The two people who guaranteed the $500,000 bond of embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY) last month were revealed Thursday to be his father, Gercino Dos Santos Jr., and his aunt, Elma Santos Preven.
Gercino dos Santos reportedly lives in New York and has previously worked as a house painter. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert in Central Islip, New York had ordered their names unsealed at 12pm ET Thursday.
The revelation of their identities came despite Santos attorney Joseph W. Murray having claimed in a court filing earlier this month that Santos “would rather surrender to pretrial detainment than subject these suretors to what will inevitably come,” adding that the guarantors were likely to “suffer great distress, may lose their jobs and, God forbid, may suffer physical injury.”
Federal Judge Anne Y. Shields in East Islip had released Santos on the bond on May 10 after he pleaded not guilty to 13 criminal counts at federal court in New York’s Eastern District.
The 13 charges include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
Santos’ bond is unsecured, meaning that his cosigners didn’t have to post any money up front. However, they could be forced to pay the full amount if he doesn’t comply with his release conditions or fails to show up for court.
Citing the First Amendment as well as common law right to access information, a consortium of media organizations had filed a motion to unseal the records last month. Prosecutors had not taken a position on the media’s request.
If he’s convicted, Santos—who filed for reelection in 2024 on March 14— faces up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud charges alone.
