NYC NOW - August 20, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: August 20, 2024

Police say officers are looking for a Uhaul truck driver involved in a fatal hit and run in Queens just after midnight Tuesday morning. Also, if you have plans to head to the Southern tip of New Jersey shore, it may be harder than you think. The bridge connecting Cape May county and Wildwood Crest is closed indefinitely after the motor used to open it failed. And transportation authorities say it could take weeks to find parts replacements. Additionally, New Jersey residents will soon get confirmation if they will get a property tax rebate check from the state reports Nancy Solomon. In other news, former congressman George Santos pled guilty to identity theft and wire fraud Monday afternoon. WNYC's Sean Carlson speaks with politics reporter Brigid Bergin who was in the courtroom. And lastly, an estimated 8 million Americans will come to voting age by this November's election. WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk collaborated with the group Why Vote to gather insight from young people who will be able to cast a vote for the first time this year.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, August 20th. Here's the midday news from Lance Lucky. Police say officers are searching for the driver of a U-Haul truck involved in a fatal hit and run in Queens overnight. The NYPD says it happened at the intersection of Kassena Boulevard and the Horace Harding Expressway just after midnight. A Honda Accord collided with a U-Haul killing a car. a 56-year-old man walking nearby.

The Honda driver was taken to a local hospital, but police say the U-Haul driver and a front-seat passenger fled the scene. If you have plans to head to the southern tip of the Jersey shore, listen up. Transportation officials say the bridge connecting Cape May County and Wildwood Crest is closed indefinitely. The middle thoroughfare bridge abruptly closed over the weekend after authorities say a motor used to open it failed. The Cape May County Bridge Commission, which owns and operates the bridge, says workers are racing to find hard. to replace parts to repair it, but they're concerned that could take weeks. Authorities say the bridge is currently stuck in the open position and is closed to cars,

bikes, and pedestrians. New Jersey residents will soon get confirmation on whether they'll be getting a property tax rebate check from the state. WNYC's Nancy Solomon reports. The Anchor Rebate Program began in 2022, giving qualified homeowners and renters between $1,750, homeowners whose family gross income is less than $250,000 and renters with less than $150,000 in income are eligible. Governor Phil Murphy says the state has streamlined the process so that anyone who was eligible last year is automatically sent a check this year. We've eliminated most, if not all the paper. We've bulked up our call center. The governor expects some 1.5 million New

Jerseyans to receive a rebate this year. 67 degrees. Only 72 this afternoon. WNYC. Stay close. There's more after the break. On WNMIC, I'm Sean Carlson. George Santos pleaded guilty to identity theft and wire fraud this afternoon. The Republican who represented parts of Queens and Long Island in Congress until he was ousted from the House had previously maintained his He faced 23 charges in a sprawling federal case.

Santos will now face sentencing early next year. This is a breaking news story, but here to tell us what we know so far is WMIC's Bridget Burkin. She was in the courtroom on Long Island. Bridget, what happened today? Tell us exactly what Santos pleaded guilty to. Former Congressman George Santos entered a guilty plea on two specific counts. One was related to wire fraud and the other for committing aggravated identity theft. Now, these were crimes and connect. with various fraud schemes or part of his 2020 and 2022 campaigns for Congress.

As part of this plea deal, Santos admitted that he lied to voters, donors, the Federal Election Commission, and the National Republican Campaign Committee. After the court hearing, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace spoke to reporters outside the courthouse and acknowledged that the former congressman also admitted to committing all of their crimes he is charged with. So while he only pled guilty on those two counts, he did have to stipulate to other crimes that he committed in connection with these schemes. Yeah, prosecutors brought 23 charges against Santos as part of an alleged scheme to mislead voters and defraud donors. So did he plead guilty to every single charge?

It sounds like no. Well, he did. He had to stipulate. There are two specific counts that he entered a guilty plea for, but he is part of these schemes. there were other admissions of wrongdoing. So what had happened here was Santos had his theme with his former treasurer, Nancy Marks, where they attempted to inflate the appearance of his campaign committee to try and secure additional funds from the National Republican Campaign Committee.

So they made the documentation that he filed with the Federal Election Commission appear as though more people had donated to his campaign, maxed out in fact, in fact, then had actually given. They used the identities of friends and family members, none of whom actually gave to the campaign. They used their personal identity and stole credit card information as part of this scheme. And Santos acknowledged both in court and after court that he had committed crimes, that he had lied, and that this was the first step towards potentially turning his life around. Now, Bridget, Santos had long maintained his incident.

In a sense, he's had an air of confidence, even smiling his way through interviews, sometimes being outright dismissive of the government's case. That said, what was his attitude in the courtroom? What did you see? Sean, this was an entirely different George Santos. He was, I would say, meek, even, soft-spoken in the courtroom. He answered the judge Joanna Siebert's questions very respectfully, but very softly. he had to admit as part of this plea deal that he was sacrificing a lot of his rights, his rights to a trial, his right to subpoena witnesses.

And in so doing, that was part of what would be the grounds for her acceptance of this agreement. He came outside afterwards and spoke to reporters. He stood completely surrounded in dark glasses. You could tell that his eyes were red, likely that he had been crying. And he said that he was hoping that this was the first step towards turning his life around. We have a little bit of tape from that. Let's go ahead and take a listen. I know that rebuilding trust will take time and that my actions will always be a part of my history.

However, I am determined to use this experience as a turning point in my life, one that will guide me to make better choices and to be an exemplary member of my community. Wow, very interesting. And, Sean, I just want to underscore, you know, is compared to what we have heard from the George Santos, you know, over the past two years who has been really defiant in the face of charges from the Eastern District, a scathing report from the House Ethics Committee, and even after expulsion from Congress, the George Santos that we saw today was contrite with someone who recognized that in order to move forward. with his life. He was going to need to accept some of these mistakes that he had made. And in fact, faces some serious penalties, both in terms of prison time as well as payments back to victims and giving up property that he continues to hold on to. Yeah, Bridget, what kind of prison time is Santos looking at?

Well, at this point, it's a minimum of two years, and that's for that aggravated identity theft charge. But he could face a maximum of 22 years. depending on what the court decides. The probation department will now actually conduct a background check to make sure there's no additional criminal contact that might influence the sentencing decision. He also has to forfeit more than $200,000 in property and repay victims of his fraud scheme, more than $370,000. But we won't ultimately know what his sentence is until early next year.

Judge Siebert said a sentencing date of February 7th. ahead of that, lawyers for the prosecution and defense need to submit their sentencing memos proposing what they think the final penalties must be. But, as I said, by entering this guilty plea, Judge Siebert stressed to Santos, and he needed to acknowledge in the courtroom that the only grounds for appeal at this point would be if he said that he did not receive adequate representation from his own lawyers, but he has already told the court that he feels like he was adequately represented. And so likely what happens now is just the determination of the penalty needs to pay

and beginning to pay his restitution for the crimes that committed. That's WNYC's Bridget Bergen, live on Long Island. Thank you so much, Bridget. Thank you. On WNYC and Michael Hill, an estimated 8 million Americans will come of age to vote by the November election. WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk recently. collaborated with the group Why Vote to gather insights from young people who can cast a ballot in a presidential race for the first time this year. My name is Emmanuel Ann Jr. I'm currently

18 and a half years old, and I'm from East New York, Brooklyn, New York. I think previously when Biden was still in the race, the biggest concern for me was I kind of felt apathetic because I still felt like I was not being represented by either choice. And I still think that we have a lot of social issues that still need to be addressed. Last year, I spent a lot of time focusing on economic mobility. And I still think that rings true as the issue that kind of matters the most to me. The second issue that rings true to me is like racial and overall equitable justice for all. We're still in a time where rights are being lost.

people are still bearing for their lives, and we're still in a time where people take things for granted. But I do hope that people in general are less polarized. We have a lot of conversation shutdowns, or, like, you can't be friends with us or you can't sit with us if, like, you have different beliefs than the next person. And I do get, like, hate speech. That's a different category. But just in general, if you guys have different opposing beliefs, and I do hope that we can kind of sit down. and not end friendships and, you know, that type of stuff over different beliefs. I think in general, I do hope that we do get a lot more justice, but also that people tend to look inside themselves and really look at, you know, what they care about and how they can make a difference in their communities. My mom's side is from the deep south, and voting is important to me.

You know, looking at our ancestry, it'd be quite a slack to the face not to vote, especially since we have done so much to get the rights to vote. And it's your time to speak up and voice your opinion. Like, hey, I don't like what's happening here or suggest a new candidate. Voting is especially that crucial time to make sure that your voice is heard. 18-year-old Emmanuel Anam Jr. lives in East New York, Brooklyn, and is now old enough to vote. Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from DoE.

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