A Texas man, Hector Medina of El Paso, was arrested on Wednesday on charges of attempting to defraud George Santos, a former New York congressman, by promising to get criminal corruption charges against Santos dropped.
Medina allegedly posed as a fixer with connections to judges and solicited a wire transfer from Santos with the false promise of clearing his charges.
Federal agents became aware of Medina’s scheme last summer when he began sending text messages and videos to Santos, claiming he could “get everything dropped” and requesting a $900,000 wire transfer. Medina, also known as Michael Soto, reportedly used a similar method on other individuals facing criminal exposure.
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Medina admitted to knowing that his scheme was wrong but claimed he was trying to pay off gambling debts. He now faces a wire fraud charge with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted.
Santos, on the other hand, faces up to 22 years in prison on charges including defrauding campaign donors, lying to Congress about his wealth, receiving unemployment benefits while employed, and using campaign contributions for personal expenses.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and is due back in court for a pre-trial conference in August. Santos did not respond to a request for comment on Medina’s arrest. Last month, Democrat Tom Suozzi won a special election for Santos’ former seat in Congress.
