Indicted GOP Congressman expected to follow Mike Flynn by pleading guilty to try and save his son: report

Embattled Congressman Chris Collins (R-NY) is expected to plead guilty in a deal with federal prosecutors, according to analysis in The Buffalo News published Wednesday.

The newspaper reports, according to two unidentified sources, that Rep. Collins turned down a plea deal prior to being indicted on 11-counts.

Four independent legal experts told The Buffalo News that they expected Rep. Collins to eventually agree to a plea agreement before going to trial.

"In a case like this, prosecutors usually play the family card," Buffalo defense attorney Paul Cambria explained.

"The father would plead guilty in order to get concessions for the son. I would be shocked if that weren't part of the deal," he added.

Columbia University law professor John Coffee, Jr. noted that Rep. Collins' best defense at trial would be to claim the conversation with his son was intended to be in confidence.

"But if you say that, you're turning on your son and sending him to prison," he said.

"People who are between a rock and a hard place tend to feel it more the closer they get to the courtroom door," Coffee said of the timing of such a deal.

Congressman Collins was the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump campaign advisor Michael Flynn, Sr pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in a legal maneuver widely seen as intended to protect his son, Mike Flynn, Jr.