Former U.S. Rep. George Santos is in negotiations to resolve his federal prison fraud case, prosecutors stated in a courtroom submitting Monday.

“The events are presently engaged in plea negotiations with the purpose of resolving this matter with out the necessity for a trial,” U.S. Lawyer Breon Peace’s workplace wrote within the submitting.

Santos is scheduled to seem in courtroom on Lengthy Island for a listening to within the case Tuesday. He acknowledged in an interview that aired Sunday that he hadn’t dominated out pleading responsible.

“The trial will not be till September and a plea will not be off the desk. So there’s clearly conversations happening, particularly after what occurred in Congress, and we’ll see,” he stated within the interview with CBS 2, referring to his expulsion from Congress earlier this month.

Requested if he’s afraid of going to jail, Santos responded: “I believe all people ought to be afraid of going to jail, it’s not a fairly place and uh, I undoubtedly need to work very arduous to keep away from that as greatest as doable.”

Prosecutors stated in Monday’s submitting they’re additionally looking for an earlier trial date in case the negotiations fail to supply a deal. The request is opposed by Santos’ lawyer, who didn’t reply to an electronic mail looking for remark Monday.

Santos faces a number of fees that he defrauded donors to his marketing campaign, lied to Congress about his wealth, acquired unemployment advantages whereas employed and used marketing campaign contributions to pay for private bills like designer clothes. He pleaded not responsible in October to further fees that he made tens of 1000’s of {dollars} in unauthorized fees on bank cards belonging to a few of his marketing campaign donors.

Santos hasn’t wasted any time trying to money in on his infamy since changing into simply the sixth lawmaker in historical past to be solid out by colleagues within the U.S. Home of Representatives, a transfer that left Republicans with a razor-thin majority within the chamber.

The 35-year-old Queens native launched an account on the web site Cameo, the place the general public will pay him for a personalised video message. Within the televised interview, Santos stated he made more cash in per week on the platform than his annual wage as a congressman.

Santos was touted as a rising star after he flipped the suburban district that covers the prosperous North Shore of Lengthy Island and a slice of the New York Metropolis borough of Queens final yr.

However his life story unraveled earlier than he was even sworn into workplace: Reviews revealed he had lied about having Jewish ancestry, a profession at high Wall Road corporations and a university diploma, amongst different issues.