An ex-campaign aide to Rep. George Santos who was accused of impersonating House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s former chief of staff Dan Meyer was charged with wire fraud and identity theft in a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Samuel Miele, 27, of Green Village, N.J., pleaded not guilty to four counts of wire fraud and identity theft before Magistrate Judge Sanket Bulsara, according to court documents. He was released on a $150,000 bond.
The indictment unsealed Wednesday identifies four emails Miele allegedly sent to four people who contributed to Santos’ campaign between Aug. 19 and Oct. 22, 2021. Miele received a 15% commission on each contribution he solicited, prosecutors said.
Through the “fraudulent scheme” Miele was able to solicit contributions from over a dozen people, prosecutors said.
Miele, in a letter to Santos last September, admitted he faked his identity to “a big donor” and that he was “high risk, high reward in everything I do,” according to court documents.
Kevin Marino, Miele’s attorney, told The New York Times his client “looks forward to complete vindication at trial as soon as possible.”
Meyer, who is no longer working for McCarthy, was not named in the indictment, but it does say Miele did not have permission to use his identity for fundraising purposes.
“My staff raised concerns when he had a staff member who impersonated my chief of staff, and that individual was let go when Mr. Santos found about it,” McCarthy told reporters in January.
Miele was fired by the Santos campaign after the scheme was exposed, The Times previously reported. One57 Group, a company managed by Miele, was paid $43,000 by the Santos campaign and $10,000 by the Rise NY PAC, which was created in December 2020 by the campaign.
Miele’s case is being prosecuted by the same legal team overseeing the case against Santos, who pleaded not guilty in May to a 13-count indictment, which includes allegations of wire fraud, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress.
Prosecutors said in a letter filed Wednesday the cases should be presumed to be related “because the facts of each case arise out of overlapping events.”
