George Santos’ former treasurer sentenced to probation over bogus campaign finance reports

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — George Santos ′ former campaign treasurer was sentenced Wednesday to three years’ probation for her role in fabricating campaign finance reports for the disgraced ex-congressman from New York.

Nancy Marks was also ordered to pay more than $178,000 in restitution by U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert.

The veteran Long Island political operative, who resigned as Santos’ campaign treasurer in 2023, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges last year.

“I thought I had found a friend in George Santos,” she said Wednesday. “But everything about him was a lie. I thought it was a true friend and a true person. He was not.”

She has admitted to helping Santos inflate his campaign donations during the 2022 election cycle in order to hit the fundraising thresholds needed to qualify for backing from the national Republican Party.

Prosecutors say Marks filed campaign finance reports that listed a number of false donors, including at least 10 members of her family and Santos’ family.

The reports to the Federal Election Commission and the GOP National Committee also falsely claimed Santos had loaned his campaign $500,000 when in reality he didn’t have the money to make that kind of loan.

Marks faced up to five years in prison. In a filing ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, prosecutors had recommended the Shirley resident be sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $178,000 in restitution.

Marks’ lawyers filed their sentencing request under seal, meaning it wasn’t revealed prior to her appearance in Central Islip federal court.

Marks worked on more than 150 Republican campaigns on Long Island, including for the current head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, during his successful campaigns for Congress and a failed gubernatorial run.

Santos was sentenced last month to more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

He’s due to report to prison July 25.

Sam Miele, a former fundraiser for Santos, was sentenced in March to one year and one day in prison for his role in the campaign fraud, which included impersonating a high-ranking congressional aide.

Santos served less than a year in Congress before becoming just the sixth member of the House to be ousted by colleagues after it was revealed he’d fabricated much of his life story.

The political unknown had painted himself as a successful business owner who worked at prestigious Wall Street firms, when in reality he was struggling financially.

The revelations led to congressional and criminal inquiries into how he had funded his campaign.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.