Cunningham figure continued committing crimes after guilty plea

A federal judge has revoked bail for Thomas Kontogiannis, a figure in the ex-Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.) scandal, after prosecutors accused him of traveling to Greece while on bail and committing more crimes.

{mosads}Kontogiannis’s sentencing was scheduled for Monday, but the judge decided to postpone it after learning that the defendant had undergone bypass surgery last week at a New York hospital, The Associated Press reported.

Kontogiannis, who remains in federal custody while recovering at the hospital, admitted to laundering bribe money for Cunningham, who is serving a prison term. After his guilty plea, Kontogiannis surrendered his passport but managed to travel for vacation with his family to Greece.

Prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge Larry Burns to give Kontogiannis the maximum sentence of 10 years for his role in laundering bribe money for Cunningham. The punishment should be severe, they said, because Kontogiannis continued to run a $100 million mortgage fraud scheme for months after he pleaded guilty in the political corruption case.

In February, Kontogiannis admitted that he hid about $1 million in loan transactions in the real estate deal that brought down Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes.