Former Rep. Steve Stockman Found Guilty of 23 Fraud Charges

A federal jury on Thursday found former Rep. Steve Stockman guilty of 23 felony charges related to misusing charitable contributions. The former conservative firebrand was found guilty of all but one of the four wire fraud charges he faced, the Texas Tribune reported. Stockman was accused of funneling $1.25 million in charitable donations to pay for campaign and personal expenses without paying taxes. Two of Stockman’s former aides, Thomas Dodd and Jason Posey, earlier pleaded guilty and testified against their former boss in hopes for a more lenient sentence that they were complicit in Stockman’s schemes. The former congressman faces decades in prison at his sentencing in August. Stockman used money meant for charitable causes like renovating a home on Capitol Hill for young conservatives to stay in  while they were interns to pay personal credit card debt, a friend’s stint in rehab and trying to set up a sting against potential political opponents. Stockman’s attorneys said that the mega donors who contributed to Stockman meant for them to be used for campaign expenses. The Texas Republican served two nonconsecutive terms — from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2013 to 2015 — and lost a primary challenge to Republican Whip Sen. John Cornyn in 2014. The charges relate to his 2012 and 2014 campaigns. If Stockman’s conviction is upheld upon appeal, he will be ineligible to hold elected office in Texas. Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone or your Android.