Former Congressional Staffer Sentenced to Prison for Extensive Fraud and Election Crimes Scheme
HOUSTON - A former congressional staffer was sentenced today for participating in a multi-year scheme to defraud charitable donors of hundreds of thousands of dollars. He also secretly funneled the proceeds to pay for personal expenses and illegally finance campaigns for federal office.
U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick made the announcement along with Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of FBIs Washington Field Office and Acting Special Agent in Charge Sarah Kull of IRS - Criminal Investigation (CI) Houston Field Office.
Jason T. Posey, 48, of Tupelo, Mississippi, pleaded guilty Oct. 11, 2017, to one count of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal of the Southern District of Texas sentenced Posey to 18 months in prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. Posey was also ordered to pay $564,718.65 in restitution and $156,855.29 in forfeiture.
As part of his plea, Posey admitted he participated in a scheme that former U.S. Representative Stephen E. Stockman, 62, led. A federal jury in Houston convicted Stockman April 12, 2018, of 23 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to make conduit contributions and false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), making false statements to the FEC, making excessive coordinated campaign contributions, money laundering and filing a false tax return. Another of Stockmans former congressional staffers, Thomas Dodd, 40, of Houston, pleaded guilty March 20, 2017, to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to make conduit contributions and false statements. On Dec. 12, 2018, Judge Rosenthal sentenced Dodd to serve 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $800,000 in restitution,
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/former-congressional-staffer-sentenced-prison-extensive-fraud-and-election-crimes
Former Rep. Steve Stockman is a Republican.