Nancy Marks, who served as embattled U.S. Rep. George Santos’ campaign treasurer for his 2022 campaign, pleaded guilty to a felony Thursday at Central Islip federal court.
The charge was conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States. Even with the guilty plea, Marks could serve up to five years in prison, with up to three years of supervised release.
Nancy Marks Pleads Guilty
In the courtroom after entering the guilty plea, Marks read a written statement admitting to filing false numbers with the Federal Election Commission for Santos’s campaign — one of which included a $500,000 donation from Santos himself — in order to meet certain benchmarks for national party approval from the Republican Party.
Santos, the prosecution asserted, did not and could not afford to make such a donation.
Marks was released on $100,000 bail and had no comment for reporters as she left the courtroom. She is due back in court April 12, with a sentencing set for April 5.
Raymond Perini, Marks’ attorney, told reporters that she was manipulated by Santos.
“She is a good person,” Perini asserted. “She’s going to put George Santos and what he did to her behind her. I’m not denying her culpability, but Nancy is a good person. Men and women who manipulate people to their benefit will someday pay the price.”
Marks and Santos
Marks resigned in January as financial irregularities were rising about Santos’s campaign funding. Santos himself faces a 13 count indictment for those controversies and refused calls to resign.
Marks has been involved in Republican politics for some time, having also served as the campaign treasurer for the gubernatorial campaign of former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), among many other candidates.
Santos sought to blame Marks for the finance issues, telling a conservative news outlet that “the former fiduciary went rogue.”
Santos faced serious questions about his resume in December, when it was revealed he had lied about having Jewish heritage, attending both Baruch College and New York University, working for Citigroup and Goldman-Sachs, and having connections to victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting.
Santos has admitted to certain fabrications, such as about his education. He has claimed that others were mere embellishments of truth, saying he worked with Goldman-Sachs while he worked for LinkBridge Investors.
Santos has adamantly stood by his claims of Jewish heritage, even telling reporters in April he took several DNA tests and would be publicly releasing the results. He has not done so.
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