Former congressman sentenced to 10 years in prison for campaign finance scheme

Former Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) was sentenced to 120 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,014,718.51 for a campaign finance scheme.

After he leaves prison, Stockman will be subject to three years of supervised release, according to an announcement from the Department of Justice.

“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 Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski in the announcement.

{mosads}”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,” Benczkowski said.

Stockman was found guilty in 23 of 24 charges related to his defrauding of charitable donors in April this year.

He was accused of using $1.25 million in charitable donations to pay personal and campaign expenses.

Prosecutors called it a “white-collar crime spree.”

Previously, Stockman served two nonconsecutive terms in the House and mounted a failed primary challenge against Sen. John Cornyn (R) in 2014.