Thread by @Headsnipe011

Former U.S. Congressman Sentenced to 120 Months for Extensive Fraud, Tax and Election Crimes Scheme

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justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/f…

HOUSTON – A former U.S. Congressman was sentenced today to 120 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,014,718.51 in restitution, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for orchestrating a four-year scheme to defraud charitable donors...

of hundreds of thousands of dollars and secretly to funnel the proceeds to pay for personal expenses and to illegally finance his campaigns for public office.

U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno of the FBI’s Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division and...

Special Agent in Charge D. Richard Goss of the IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Houston Field Office made the announcement.

“At trial, the government proved to the jury that former congressman stockman ran his campaign and fraudulent charities to simply enrich himself and defrauded well-meaning donors,” said Patrick.

“This type of corruption by public officials gives our entire democratic system a black eye.”

“Former Representative Stockman stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from charities, then used the money to pay personal expenses and fund his political campaigns,” said Benczkowski.

“As this case demonstrates, the Justice Department and our law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue corrupt public officials, including those who seek to corrupt our elections for personal gain.”

Former U.S. Representative Stephen E. Stockman, 61, was convicted by a federal jury in Houston on April 12 of 23 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to make conduit contributions and false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC),

making false statements to the FEC, making excessive coordinated campaign contributions, money laundering and filing a false tax return. Two of Stockman’s former congressional staffers previously pleaded guilty in the case.

Thomas Dodd, 39, of Houston, pleaded guilty March 20, 2017, to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to make conduit contributions and false statements. Jason T. Posey, 48, of Tupelo, Mississippi,

pleaded guilty Oct. 11, 2017, to one count of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud,and one count of money laundering.

“Former Congressman Stockman was entrusted by his constituents to serve in their best interest,” said DeSarno. “Instead, Stockman used his position in a series of schemes for personal gain at the expense of the public.