A Republican former congressman from Texas has been convicted of fraud after funneling $1.25 million from donors into personal expenses as part of what prosecutors have described as a “white collar crime spree.”
A jury in federal court in Houston ruled Thursday afternoon that former GOP lawmaker Steve Stockman (Texas) is guilty of all but one of the 24 felonies he was charged with last March.
Stockman faces 20 years in federal prison for each conviction, including 11 counts of money laundering, seven counts of mail and wire fraud, two counts of make false statements to the Federal Election Commission, one count of making coordinated excess campaign contributions, one count of conspiracy to make conduit campaign contributions, and one count of filing a false tax return.
Following the verdict, Stockman was taken to jail where he will await sentencing, which is scheduled for Aug. 17.
“Stephen Stockman abused his position as United States Congressman to defraud charitable donors and then used the proceeds of his crimes to corrupt the election process and make a range of impermissible personal expenditures,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan.
Stockman was charged with two former aides, Thomas Dodd and Jason Posey, who both entered guilty pleas and testified against their former boss. The three faced 28 felony charges in total.
When he was in Congress, Stockman, a staunch conservative, gained notoriety for threatening to seek the impeachment of then-President Barack Obama if he tried to implement gun control regulations through executive action.
