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A day after Rep. George Santos was indicted on 13 federal charges, the beleaguered first-term Republican from New York returned to court on Thursday for a hearing with a very different outcome.
Santos and Brazilian prosecutors agreed Thursday to settle criminal charges involving shoes and stolen checkbooks. According to documents seen by The New York Times, the remote Santos took responsibility for his actions and agreed to pay 24,000 Brazilian reals (about $4,850), part of which was given to the victim. The portion will be donated to charity.
Prosecutors dropped the charges against him in exchange for his confession, according to his attorney and another person familiar with the case.
“With today’s ruling, he is no longer a defendant in Brazil. It’s a clean record,” said Jonimar Vasconcelos, a lawyer for Mr. Santos in Brazil.
Brazilian prosecutors declined to comment.
The hearing comes less than 24 hours after Santos was released from federal custody on $500,000 bail. New York prosecutors have charged him with 13 felony counts, including wire fraud, fraud and theft of public money, and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Santos, who was elected in November overturning the previously Democratic 3rd congressional district, is more than who he is: Wall Street financier, grandson of Holocaust survivor and volleyball star. Even, everything that is not so has become known. .
After the New York Times report, Santos admitted to falsifying much of his career, from his education to jobs at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Yet those lies continue to haunt him. Some of the felonies facing him in the United States relate to his claims on personal financial disclosure forms, with prosecutors alleging he misrepresented his income. He has also been charged with fraud against political donors and the New York Department of Labor.
Santos returned to Washington on Thursday and vowed to continue business as usual. Along with Republicans, he voted to approve sweeping border security measures that would restore Trump-era immigration practices. He also helped pass legislation to crack down on the same kinds of pandemic-era unemployment fraud that U.S. prosecutors have accused him of.
Santos did not address the seeming contradiction and did not respond to questions from reporters. But he shared an endorsement of Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gates on Twitter and again tried to use the indictment to solicit campaign donations.
“I will fight to protect myself!” Santos posted this afternoon, adding, “Donate so I can keep fighting for you!”
According to law enforcement officials, the Brazilian incident began in June 2008 when Mr. Santos entered a store in the city of Niteroi, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Court records show he used a false name and stolen checkbooks to purchase items such as tennis shoes.
A few days later, another man entered the store to return the shoes, according to court records. He later told police they were gifts from his friend Anthony. Anthony “looked like he was doing well financially, considering he was wearing designer clothes and the places he’d been to, including expensive nightclubs and restaurants,” Anthony said.
Santos later confessed to both the police and the store owner. He was formally indicted in September 2011, but the case stalled when prosecutors were unable to find him.
The case reached a kind of administrative impasse, which resurfaced in January when reports revealed that Santos, who was born in the United States and spent time in Brazil, lived in New York and was elected to the House of Representatives. .
The owner, Carlos Bruno de Castro-Simones, was baffled by Mr. Santos’ trajectory from humble beginnings to Washington, D.C.
“Certainly he is ill,” Simones told the court, adding: He ended up falling to his death. “
The end of the Brazil case will take some pressure off Republican Santos, who has promised to remain in Congress and seek re-election in 2024. Under parliamentary rules, members of parliament can continue to serve while being indicted. Even after conviction, unless it involves treason.
Jack Nikas Contributed to the report from Rio de Janeiro, Karon Demirjan and Katie Edmonson from Washington.
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