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Ex-Rep. Steve Stockman Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison

Texas Republican was found guilty of 23 fraud charges

Former Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, was sentenced Wednesday following conviction on multiple charges including mail fraud and money laundering. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Former Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, was sentenced Wednesday following conviction on multiple charges including mail fraud and money laundering. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Former Texas Republican Rep. Steve Stockman was sentenced Wednesday to 120 months in prison after a federal jury convicted him of 23 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission.

The Texas Republican was first elected in the 1994 GOP revolution, only to be unseated two years later. He returned to the House in 2013, but left after a term following an unsuccessful bid to knock off Sen. John Cornyn in the following year’s Republican primary.

“Former Representative Stockman stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from charities, then used the money to pay personal expenses and fund his political campaigns,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski said in a statement. “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.”

A federal jury in April found Stockman, 60, guilty of soliciting $1.25 million in donations based on false pretenses, specifically using some of the funds meant for charities to pay for his personal expenses and to further his political ambitions.

The former congressman was also ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution, to be followed by three years of supervised release, according to Justice Department statement.

Stockman seems to have brought down two former congressional staffers along with him. Thomas Dodd, 39, of Houston and Jason T. Posey, 48, of Tupelo, Mississippi, pleaded guilty in 2017 to charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and money laundering.

“Congressman Stockman used his position to defraud charitable foundations to advance his political career and pay for personal expenses,” Special Agent in Charge D. Richard Goss of the IRS Criminal Investigation said. “His actions and failure to pay taxes on these illicit funds not only undermines the American tax system, but cultivates a lack of trust in our elected officials.”

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