Rep.-elect George Santos, R-New York, speaks at an annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Failing to keep the names of his bond co-signers under seal, Rep. George Santos did not follow through on his threat to go to jail before trial rather than expose their identities.
On Thursday, their names were publicly released on the court’s docket, and as his attorney previously indicated, the suretors were his family members: his father Gercino dos Santos and his aunt Elma Preven.
Since his arrest on a 13-count U.S. indictment, Santos has remained free on a $500,000 bond secured by two suretors, and his pretrial wrangling so far has been dominated by his efforts to keep the identities of those co-signers under wraps. He lost two times — before a magistrate and then a district judge.
The New York Republican previously suggested that he would “rather surrender to pretrial detainment than subject these suretors to what will inevitably come,” alleging that their safety is at risk.
“Here in the instant case, the suretors are likely to suffer great distress, may lose their jobs, and God forbid, may suffer physical injury,” his attorney Joseph W. Murray claimed in a letter to the court dated June 5.
The threat was met with skepticism by legal experts at the time, as former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner noted “fraudsters often make dramatic statements for effect and then back away when put to the test.”
Calling his bluff, U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert gave Santos until noon on Thursday to decide whether to “modify the conditions of his release” or allow the suretors’ identities to be made public. He ultimately decided against relinquishing his status as a free man, and he allowed his family members’ identities to be made public.
Unsealing her ruling, Judge Seybert said that Santos cast more attention toward his family members by trying to shield their identities than he would have if he hadn’t done so.
“As the News Organizations aptly note, family members frequently serve as suretors for criminal defendants in this country every day,” the judge wrote in an 11-page ruling. “Consequently, it is more likely that disclosure of the suretors’ identities will render any potential ‘story’ a ‘non-story,’ especially considering the news organizations’ acknowledgement of this fact. Indeed, it appears Defendant’s continued attempts to shield the identity of his suretors, notwithstanding the fact that he is aware their identities are not controversial, has simply created hysteria over what is, in actuality, a nonissue.”
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Ultimately, the judge found disclosure necessary to “quell the speculations” surrounding the congressman’s bond.
That the family members signed the congressman’s bond doesn’t mean that they had the money or property on hand, only that they would be obligated to pay the six-figure sum if he didn’t appear in court.
Barely sooner had the New York Republican’s election catapulted him into MAGA stardom than a series of investigative news articles and criminal prosecutions had him hanging onto his political life and freedom. Santos exaggerated or fabricated broad swaths of his account of his life, including his education, religion, work history, and family’s connections to mass tragedies, from the Holocaust to the 9/11 attacks.
As the facade he created unraveled, federal, state, local and international prosecutors scrutinized whether the freshman lawmaker’s deceptions crossed over into the criminal. Investigators from Brazil and the Eastern District of New York alleged that Santos had.
Santos faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. The top counts alone carry a maximum 20-year sentence.
Prosecutors say that Santos engaged in a fraudulent campaign contribution scheme tracing back to September 2022, through a limited liability company that he allegedly used to defraud prospective political supporters.
In 2020, Santos also alleged to have falsely claimed unemployment to reap insurance benefits designed to help those who lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, prosecutors say, he made a $120,000 salary.
He also stands accused of lying to the House of Representatives and the public in statements about his financial condition.
Santos has pleaded not guilty.
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