Former GOP lawmaker pleads guilty to lying to feds in bribery case

Former Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.) pleaded guilty on Wednesday to lying to federal investigators, the Department of Justice announced on Wednesday.

He is facing up to six months in prison, although prosecutors may ask for less time. A sentencing date has not been set. 

Hayes represented North Carolina in Congress between 1999 and 2009. He has also served as the head of the state’s Republican Party.{mosads}

Hayes and three others were indicted last March on multiple conspiracy and bribery charges, according to The Charlotte Observer. They all pleaded not guilty at the time.

Prosecutors reportedly accused the men of involvement in a scheme to secure $2 million for Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey’s reelection campaign to convince him to get rid of a senior deputy commissioner who supervised the regulation of a company owned by one of the co-defendants. 

The plea agreement includes Hayes’s cooperation with prosecutors, and he may have to testify against the other defendants, according to the newspaper.