Mar. 6, 2024 By Michael Malaszczyk
In an ironic twist of fate, a man from El Paso, Texas may have tried to con disgraced former Rep. George Santos throughout 2023.
Court documents obtained by the Press reveal that Hector Medina Jr., going under the name “Michael Soto,” allegedly attempted to promise Santos a way out of his legal troubles in exchange for large sums of money.
Santos is not directly named in the court documents, but the documents mention “July 2023 text messages and videos sent by Medina to the phone number of the United States Congressman for New York’s Third Congressional District,” identifying the former congressman as “Individual 1.”
It’s not Medina’s first rodeo, either, as he apparently has priors related to theft and fraud.
Throughout both July and August of 2023, Medina texted Santos both pictures and videos claiming he worked with prosecutors and could get all of Santos’s federal charges – of which there were 13 at the time, now up to 23 – dropped if Santos paid him $900,000.
Medina even provided fake ID for “Michael Soto,” to try to sway Santos.
Santos, who may know a thing or two about committing fraud, wasn’t buying it, and never responded to Medina’s requests.
Santos apparently wasn’t the only target of Medina’s scheme. The affidavit mentions that Medina also texted a second individual, identified as a “publicly known actor who had been convicted of felonies in California in May 2023,” and that individual’s spouse offering them the same fraudulent deal as he offered Santos.