New York
George Santos’ ex-fundraiser sentenced to a year in prison for wire fraud
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A former campaign fundraiser for ex- U.S. Rep. George Santos was sentenced Friday to one year and one day in prison for impersonating a high-ranking congressional aide while raising cash for the disgraced New York Republican.
Sam Miele, speaking briefly in federal court on Long Island, apologized to everyone he had “let down,” including family and friends.
“What I did was wrong. Plain and simple,” he said, vowing he would never be involved with the criminal justice system again.
But when pushed by Judge Joanna Seybert to explain why he had committed such brazen fraud despite his privileged upbringing, Miele only responded that he had been a “different person” back then.
“It was a terrible mistake,” the 28-year-old New Jersey native, who graduated from St. John’s University in Queens, said. “That’s all I can say about that.”
Miele declined to comment after the hearing, but his lawyer said he believed the sentence was “fair and appropriate” and his client was looking to put the case behind him.
“This is what happens when you associate with the wrong people,” attorney Kevin Marino said.
Miele pleaded guilty in 2023 to a single count of federal wire fraud for his role in the criminal case that led to Santos’ expulsion from office.
He admitted that in 2021 he solicited donations under the name Dan Meyer, then-chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who went on to serve less than a year as House speaker before leaving Congress in 2023.
Prosecutors said Miele’s impersonation included setting up a dummy email address resembling Meyer’s name while reaching out to over a dozen donors.
Miele also acknowledged he committed access device fraud by charging donors’ credit cards without authorization to send money to the campaigns of Santos and other political candidates, and for his own personal use. That fraud totaled about
$100,000, prosecutors have said.
Miele faced more than two years in prison, but Marino argued in court on Friday that he should be sentenced to home confinement, along with “substantial” community service and therapy.
He said Miele was “deserving of leniency and a second chance” because he promptly accepted responsibility for his actions, gave “full-throated cooperation” in the government’s investigation of Santos and was willing to testify against his former boss.
“He’s remorseful beyond words,” Marino said. “His name is forever linked to a disgraced congressman. All he’s done is overshadowed by this.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Zuckerwise argued that a prison sentence was necessary to deter others in the campaign fundraising world from committing similar crimes.
“We’re here not just because of one mistake, but multiple mistakes,” she said, noting that an 85-year-old suffering from memory loss was among Miele’s victims.
Miele, in his plea deal, agreed to pay about $109,000 in restitution, to forfeit another $69,000 and to make a $470,000 payment to a campaign contributor.
Miele was one of two campaign aides to reach a plea deal in the federal probe into Santos’ winning campaign.
Nancy Marks, Santos’ former campaign treasurer, pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge. She faces sentencing in May.
Santos, for his part, is due to be sentenced next month after pleading guilty last August to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, just weeks before he was to stand trial last year.
The 36-year-old admitted he stole multiple people’s credit card numbers and charged them for donations to his campaign, used campaign cash on designer clothing and other personal expenses, falsely collected unemployment benefits while working and lied about his personal wealth in a financial disclosure to Congress.
The then-political unknown gained notoriety for flipping a congressional district that covered a wealthy swath of Queens and Long Island in 2022.
But his fantastical lies about his wealth and background were quickly debunked.
Among other things, Santos lied about having a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree. He also falsely claimed his mother died in the 9/11 attacks and that his grandparents fled the Holocaust.
Less than a year after taking office, Santos was expelled from the U.S. House, becoming just the sixth ever booted from the chamber.
Washington
Mexican cartel leader’s son is sentenced to life in prison for role in major drug trafficking plot
WASHINGTON (AP) — The son of a Mexican drug cartel boss was sentenced Friday to life in prison for helping his father run one of the country’s largest and most violent narcotics trafficking organizations.
Rubén Oseguera, known as El Menchito, is the son of fugitive Jalisco New Generation cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera. The son served as the CJNG cartel’s second-in-command for seven years before his extradition to the U.S. in February 2020.
The younger Oseguera faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 40 years in prison when U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced him in Washington, D.C. One of the 35-year-old Oseguera’s defense attorneys asked for a 40-year prison sentence, noting his client was only 14 when he was recruited to join his family’s drug trafficking operation.
“You weren’t a child when you were committing all these crimes, and you won’t be sentenced as a child here,” the judge told Oseguera.
Oseguera ordered the killings of at least 100 people, personally killed at least six people and ordered subordinates to shoot down a Mexican military helicopter, killing at least nine people, in May 2015, according to prosecutors.
“This defendant helped build Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion into a brutal terrorist organization that pumps poison onto our streets and commits horrific acts of violence,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
Howell also ordered Oseguera to forfeit over $6 billion in proceeds from the cartel’s drug trafficking.
Oseguera declined to address the court before the judge imposed his sentence. He briefly conferred with his attorney before he was led out of the courtroom.
Howell said Oseguera deserved to be called a “drug kingpin.”
“Your criminal actions are among the most serious that our drug laws are designed to address,” Howell told him.
In September, a federal jury convicted Oseguera of conspiring to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for U.S. importation and using a firearm in a drug conspiracy.
Justice Department prosecutor Jonathan Hornok called Oseguera a “mass murderer” as he recommended sentencing him to two life sentences — one for each count of conviction.
In 2015, he killed five bound men who owed him money by slashing their throats with a knife, then asked for a clean shirt, according to prosecutors. Days later, they said, Oseguera shot and killed one of his drivers when the man did not repark a vehicle quickly enough.
The helicopter that Oseguera ordered to be shot down was pursuing him and his father, who remains at large. A reward of up to $15 million has been offered for information leading to the father’s arrest or conviction.
Jurors heard testimony that the younger Oseguera was personally responsible for trafficking cocaine and producing methamphetamine in total amounts worth over $12 billion.
“Simply put, this is a historically severe drug offense,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Oseguera initially signed a plea agreement with the government but ultimately elected to go to trial instead.
Defense attorney Anthony Colombo said Oseguera grew up in “an unstable environment wrought with violence and corruption.”
“Mr. Oseguera is as much as anyone both a product and a victim of that environment,” Colombo wrote.
Californa
DA won’t support resentencing Menendezes because they lied
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The district attorney of Los Angeles County said Monday that he does not support the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez because the brothers have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman told reporters his decision hinged on whether the brothers’ had exhibited “insight and complete responsibility” into lies told during their trial, including their original claim that they did not kill their parents. He said their repeated argument that they killed their parents in self-defense does not match the facts of the case that showed premeditated steps to plan the killings and make it look like a gang hit.
“They have lied to everyone for the last 30 years,” Hochman said.
Hochman compared the Menendez case to that of Sirhan Sirhan, who shot and killed U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. He noted that, like the Menendez brothers, Sirhan had many letters of support and was determined to be a low-risk inmate. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom blocked his parole in 2022, saying he still poses an unreasonable threat to the public.
Hochman called it an “instructive case” because the Menendez brothers also “fell short” of taking full responsibility for their crimes.
The county’s top prosecutor said he would support resentencing in the future if the brothers “finally come clean with the court, with the public, with the DA’s office, with their own family members and acknowledge all these lies.”
A resentencing hearing has been scheduled for later in March and Hochman said the court may move forward with it.
Hochman, who took office in December, said last month that he opposed a new trial for the Menendez brothers. The siblings were convicted in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In October, then-District Attorney George Gascón recommended the brothers be resentenced to 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole. Hochman called his predecessor’s recommendation a “desperate political move.”
The brothers, who are now in their 50s, were found guilty in the murders of their entertainment executive father Jose Menendez and mother Kitty Menendez.
They began their bid for freedom in recent years after new evidence of their father’s sexual abuse emerged, and they have the support of most of their extended family. Family members didn’t immediately comment Monday after Hochman’s news conference.
Newsom last month ordered the state parole board to investigate whether the brothers would pose a risk to the public if they are released.
The brothers have another pathway to freedom. They have also submitted a clemency plea to Newsom, who has said he would not make a decision until Hochman reviewed the case.
Hochman rejected arguments by a relative of the brothers that he is biased against them. Tamara Goodall, a cousin of the siblings, has asked that he be removed from the case.
“I will follow the facts and the law wherever they take us,” Hochman said.
George Santos’ ex-fundraiser sentenced to a year in prison for wire fraud
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A former campaign fundraiser for ex- U.S. Rep. George Santos was sentenced Friday to one year and one day in prison for impersonating a high-ranking congressional aide while raising cash for the disgraced New York Republican.
Sam Miele, speaking briefly in federal court on Long Island, apologized to everyone he had “let down,” including family and friends.
“What I did was wrong. Plain and simple,” he said, vowing he would never be involved with the criminal justice system again.
But when pushed by Judge Joanna Seybert to explain why he had committed such brazen fraud despite his privileged upbringing, Miele only responded that he had been a “different person” back then.
“It was a terrible mistake,” the 28-year-old New Jersey native, who graduated from St. John’s University in Queens, said. “That’s all I can say about that.”
Miele declined to comment after the hearing, but his lawyer said he believed the sentence was “fair and appropriate” and his client was looking to put the case behind him.
“This is what happens when you associate with the wrong people,” attorney Kevin Marino said.
Miele pleaded guilty in 2023 to a single count of federal wire fraud for his role in the criminal case that led to Santos’ expulsion from office.
He admitted that in 2021 he solicited donations under the name Dan Meyer, then-chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who went on to serve less than a year as House speaker before leaving Congress in 2023.
Prosecutors said Miele’s impersonation included setting up a dummy email address resembling Meyer’s name while reaching out to over a dozen donors.
Miele also acknowledged he committed access device fraud by charging donors’ credit cards without authorization to send money to the campaigns of Santos and other political candidates, and for his own personal use. That fraud totaled about
$100,000, prosecutors have said.
Miele faced more than two years in prison, but Marino argued in court on Friday that he should be sentenced to home confinement, along with “substantial” community service and therapy.
He said Miele was “deserving of leniency and a second chance” because he promptly accepted responsibility for his actions, gave “full-throated cooperation” in the government’s investigation of Santos and was willing to testify against his former boss.
“He’s remorseful beyond words,” Marino said. “His name is forever linked to a disgraced congressman. All he’s done is overshadowed by this.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Zuckerwise argued that a prison sentence was necessary to deter others in the campaign fundraising world from committing similar crimes.
“We’re here not just because of one mistake, but multiple mistakes,” she said, noting that an 85-year-old suffering from memory loss was among Miele’s victims.
Miele, in his plea deal, agreed to pay about $109,000 in restitution, to forfeit another $69,000 and to make a $470,000 payment to a campaign contributor.
Miele was one of two campaign aides to reach a plea deal in the federal probe into Santos’ winning campaign.
Nancy Marks, Santos’ former campaign treasurer, pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge. She faces sentencing in May.
Santos, for his part, is due to be sentenced next month after pleading guilty last August to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, just weeks before he was to stand trial last year.
The 36-year-old admitted he stole multiple people’s credit card numbers and charged them for donations to his campaign, used campaign cash on designer clothing and other personal expenses, falsely collected unemployment benefits while working and lied about his personal wealth in a financial disclosure to Congress.
The then-political unknown gained notoriety for flipping a congressional district that covered a wealthy swath of Queens and Long Island in 2022.
But his fantastical lies about his wealth and background were quickly debunked.
Among other things, Santos lied about having a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree. He also falsely claimed his mother died in the 9/11 attacks and that his grandparents fled the Holocaust.
Less than a year after taking office, Santos was expelled from the U.S. House, becoming just the sixth ever booted from the chamber.
Washington
Mexican cartel leader’s son is sentenced to life in prison for role in major drug trafficking plot
WASHINGTON (AP) — The son of a Mexican drug cartel boss was sentenced Friday to life in prison for helping his father run one of the country’s largest and most violent narcotics trafficking organizations.
Rubén Oseguera, known as El Menchito, is the son of fugitive Jalisco New Generation cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera. The son served as the CJNG cartel’s second-in-command for seven years before his extradition to the U.S. in February 2020.
The younger Oseguera faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 40 years in prison when U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced him in Washington, D.C. One of the 35-year-old Oseguera’s defense attorneys asked for a 40-year prison sentence, noting his client was only 14 when he was recruited to join his family’s drug trafficking operation.
“You weren’t a child when you were committing all these crimes, and you won’t be sentenced as a child here,” the judge told Oseguera.
Oseguera ordered the killings of at least 100 people, personally killed at least six people and ordered subordinates to shoot down a Mexican military helicopter, killing at least nine people, in May 2015, according to prosecutors.
“This defendant helped build Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion into a brutal terrorist organization that pumps poison onto our streets and commits horrific acts of violence,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
Howell also ordered Oseguera to forfeit over $6 billion in proceeds from the cartel’s drug trafficking.
Oseguera declined to address the court before the judge imposed his sentence. He briefly conferred with his attorney before he was led out of the courtroom.
Howell said Oseguera deserved to be called a “drug kingpin.”
“Your criminal actions are among the most serious that our drug laws are designed to address,” Howell told him.
In September, a federal jury convicted Oseguera of conspiring to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for U.S. importation and using a firearm in a drug conspiracy.
Justice Department prosecutor Jonathan Hornok called Oseguera a “mass murderer” as he recommended sentencing him to two life sentences — one for each count of conviction.
In 2015, he killed five bound men who owed him money by slashing their throats with a knife, then asked for a clean shirt, according to prosecutors. Days later, they said, Oseguera shot and killed one of his drivers when the man did not repark a vehicle quickly enough.
The helicopter that Oseguera ordered to be shot down was pursuing him and his father, who remains at large. A reward of up to $15 million has been offered for information leading to the father’s arrest or conviction.
Jurors heard testimony that the younger Oseguera was personally responsible for trafficking cocaine and producing methamphetamine in total amounts worth over $12 billion.
“Simply put, this is a historically severe drug offense,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Oseguera initially signed a plea agreement with the government but ultimately elected to go to trial instead.
Defense attorney Anthony Colombo said Oseguera grew up in “an unstable environment wrought with violence and corruption.”
“Mr. Oseguera is as much as anyone both a product and a victim of that environment,” Colombo wrote.
Californa
DA won’t support resentencing Menendezes because they lied
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The district attorney of Los Angeles County said Monday that he does not support the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez because the brothers have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman told reporters his decision hinged on whether the brothers’ had exhibited “insight and complete responsibility” into lies told during their trial, including their original claim that they did not kill their parents. He said their repeated argument that they killed their parents in self-defense does not match the facts of the case that showed premeditated steps to plan the killings and make it look like a gang hit.
“They have lied to everyone for the last 30 years,” Hochman said.
Hochman compared the Menendez case to that of Sirhan Sirhan, who shot and killed U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. He noted that, like the Menendez brothers, Sirhan had many letters of support and was determined to be a low-risk inmate. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom blocked his parole in 2022, saying he still poses an unreasonable threat to the public.
Hochman called it an “instructive case” because the Menendez brothers also “fell short” of taking full responsibility for their crimes.
The county’s top prosecutor said he would support resentencing in the future if the brothers “finally come clean with the court, with the public, with the DA’s office, with their own family members and acknowledge all these lies.”
A resentencing hearing has been scheduled for later in March and Hochman said the court may move forward with it.
Hochman, who took office in December, said last month that he opposed a new trial for the Menendez brothers. The siblings were convicted in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In October, then-District Attorney George Gascón recommended the brothers be resentenced to 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole. Hochman called his predecessor’s recommendation a “desperate political move.”
The brothers, who are now in their 50s, were found guilty in the murders of their entertainment executive father Jose Menendez and mother Kitty Menendez.
They began their bid for freedom in recent years after new evidence of their father’s sexual abuse emerged, and they have the support of most of their extended family. Family members didn’t immediately comment Monday after Hochman’s news conference.
Newsom last month ordered the state parole board to investigate whether the brothers would pose a risk to the public if they are released.
The brothers have another pathway to freedom. They have also submitted a clemency plea to Newsom, who has said he would not make a decision until Hochman reviewed the case.
Hochman rejected arguments by a relative of the brothers that he is biased against them. Tamara Goodall, a cousin of the siblings, has asked that he be removed from the case.
“I will follow the facts and the law wherever they take us,” Hochman said.
