A Texas con artist was arrested for trying to scam disgraced former Rep. George Santos and convicted celebrity rapist Danny Masterson while posing as a prosecutor.
Scammy Rep. George Santos targeted by fellow Con Artist
Federal authorities arrested Hector Medina, Jr. of El Paso, Texas on Wednesday on allegations that he attempted to deceive former Congressman George Santos, “That ’70s Show” convict Danny Masterson, and two others.
According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) affidavit, which was filed in the Eastern District of New York, Medina has been accused of “knowingly and intentionally” engaging in a scheme to defraud legally embattled people between June 2023 and August 2023.
The affidavit states that Medina purportedly made false promises to these legally challenged individuals, offering to make their “criminal exposure” vanish in exchange for significant amounts of cash.
Medina repeatedly sought illegal interstate wire transfers by communicating via text and video messages to what is indicated as the phone number of the U.S. Congressman representing New York’s Third Congressional District.
Though former Republican lawmaker Rep. George Santos is not explicitly named in the document, the time frame indicated that he was Medina’s target.
The affidavit further indicates the unnamed victim is Santos by mentioning his indictment on May 9, 2023.
Medina purportedly operated under the pseudonym “Michael Soto” and claimed to have connections with prosecutors and judges nationwide when he contacted the former congressman.
How Rep. George Santos became a victim of a scam
A transcript from a video allegedly sent by Medina to Santos reads: “I was contacted by some people to reach out to you and see if you wanted to cut a deal.”
“Uh, this only stands for today. If you’re interested, I can get everything dropped, evidence that is on you removed, disappeared. Reach out to me if you’re interested. It’s simple yes or no. Thank you,” he allegedly added.
Santos is looking at a laundry list of charges including wire fraud, identity theft, conspiracy, and money laundering, amongst others.
Medina tried to prove his fake identity to Santos by sending his fake New Mexico drivers license in a photo, then asked for a payment of $900,000 to make the charges disappear.
“I’m really good at what I do,” he allegedly followed-up. “I’m a genius. I am a wizard when it comes to things like this. So, take advantage of the situation and let me know. Thank you.”
It’s unclear if trying to scam a scammer actually worked out for Medina, but increased his odds of getting a bite by going after three other celebrities.
He targeted Masterson, who was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping two women, and attempted to extort him for $1,000,000.
Medina also went after a professional athlete with a family member who got into legal trouble in May 2023, and a well known musician who was arrested in June 2023.
Unsurprisingly, Medina has had some past legal troubles himself, including convictions for theft in 2016 and fraud in 2023 in El Paso.
He will appear in an El Paso court next week, and be arraigned in Federal Court at an undetermined date. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
