Ex-Congressman Steve Stockman Convicted In Federal Court

HOUSTON, TX — A federal jury found former U.S. Representative Steve Stockman guilty of masterminding a massive fraud scheme that funneled thousands of dollars from charitable organizations into his own accounts.

After three days of deliberation, Stockman, 61, of Clear Lake, was convicted of seven counts of mail and wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to make conduit campaign contributions and false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), one count of making coordinated excessive campaign contributions, two counts of making false statements to the FEC, 11 counts of money laundering and one count of filing a false tax return.

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He was arrested in March 2017 after he was indicted on 28-counts that included allegations of mail fraud, money laundering, and violations of federal election law.

RELATED: Former U.S. Rep. From Texas Indicted On 28 Criminal Counts

Thomas Dodd, 38, of Houston, a former special assistant in Stockman’s congressional office, and Jason Posey, 46, formerly of Houston, a former Stockman congressional staffer, previously pleaded guilty to their involvement in the scheme.

“When public officials use their office to defraud donors and violate federal law, we will hold them accountable. Corrupt officials like former congressman Stockman make it harder for the honest ones to do their jobs,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick.

Jurors learned during the trial that Stockman schemed to solicit and obtain about $1.25 million in donations May 2010 to October 2014.

Prosecutors said that in 2010, Stockman diverted a significant portion of $285,000 in charitable donations to pay for his and Dodd’s own personal expenses and to further Stockman’s own interests.

The evidence at trial established that in 2011 and 2012, Stockman and Dodd received an additional $165,000 in charitable donations, much of which Stockman used to finance his 2012 congressional campaign.

Shortly after Stockman took office in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, he and Dodd used the name of a nonprofit entity known as to solicit and receive a $350,000 charitable donation.

Stockman used this donation for a variety of personal and campaign expenses, including illegal conduit campaign contributions, a covert surveillance project targeting a perceived political opponent and payments associated with Stockman’s U.S. Senate campaign in early 2014.

Trial evidence also demonstrated that in connection with Stockman’s Senate campaign, Posey used a nonprofit entity to secure a $450,571 donation in order to fund a purported independent expenditure for a mass-mailing project attacking Stockman’s opponent. In reality, the independent expenditure was directed and supervised by Stockman.

Only approximately half of the donation was spent on the mail campaign, and Posey used a portion of the unspent balance to pay for expenses associated with Stockman’s Senate campaign and to fund personal expenses.

“Stephen Stockman abused his position as United States Congressman to defraud charitable donors and then used the proceeds of his crimes to corrupt the election process and make a range of impermissible personal expenditures,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Cronan. “The Criminal Division is committed to preserving the public’s confidence in our government by investigating and prosecuting corrupt public officials. We also will continue to address the threat that illegal coordinated campaign contributions pose to the integrity of federal elections, and aggressively pursue these offenses at every appropriate opportunity.”

Stockman was taken into custody following the return of the verdict, and will be sentenced on Aug. 17.

He faces maximum 20 years in prison on each fraud count.

Image: Shutterstock: WASHINGTON, DC: Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) speaks at the 911 Justice for Benghazi rally at the Capitol on September 11, 2013 in Washington DC. The event pushed for House Res. 36 and House Res. 306.