This list includes American politicians at the state and local levels who have been convicted of
felony crimes committed while in office by decade; this list encompasses the 2000s.
At the bottom of the article are links to related articles which deal with politicians who are involved in federal scandals (political and sexual), as well as differentiating among federal, state and local convictions. Also excluded are crimes which occur outside the politician's tenure in office unless they specifically stem from acts during his time of service.
Entries are arranged by date, from most current to less recent, and by state.
Governor of AlabamaDon Siegelman (D) was found guilty of bribery, mail fraud and obstruction of justice on June 29, 2006, and sentenced to 88 months. (2006)[6]
Mayor of BirminghamLarry Langford (D) was sentenced on March 5, 2010, to 15 years in prison for
conspiracy, bribery, fraud,
money laundering, and filing false tax returns in connection with a long-running bribery scheme. (2010)[8] He was also fined more than $119,000.[9]
Alaska
Alaska political corruption probe in which
VECO Corporation an oilfield service corporation, was investigated by the IRS, FBI and Department of Justice. Veco executives
Bill Allen and VP Rick Smith pleaded guilty to federal charges of extortion, bribery, and conspiracy to impede the
Internal Revenue Service.[10] The charges involved bribing Alaska lawmakers who came to be known as the "Corrupt Bastards Club"[11] to vote in favor of an oil tax law favored by VECO that was the subject of vigorous debate in 2006,[12] and were part of a larger
probe of political corruption in Alaska by federal authorities.
State Representative
Thomas Anderson (R), Found guilty of seven felony counts of extortion, bribery, conspiracy, and money laundering. Sentenced on October 15, 2007, to a term of 60 months in prison.[13]
State Representative
Pete Kott (R), found guilty on three charges of bribery and sentenced to six years in prison and fined $10,000. (2007)[14]
State Representative
Vic Kohring (R), convicted on November 1, 2007, of three counts of bribery by the Veco Corporation. In May 2008, he was sentenced to 3+1⁄2 years in prison.[15]
State Representative
Bruce Weyhrauch (R), main charges dismissed by Supreme Court, given probation on state charges[16][17]
State Senator
John Cowdery (R), pleaded guilty to lesser charges. (2009)[18] Sentenced to six months' house arrest and a $25,000 fine.
State Representative
Beverly Masek (R), was sentenced to six months on September 23, 2009.[19]
Arizona
Corporation Commissioner Jim Irvin (R) was found guilty of trying to influence a corporate bidding war and fined $60K. (2003)[20][21][22]
California
State Senator
Tom Berryhill (R) was found guilty of money laundering by Judge Jonathan Lew and the California Fair Practices Commission of deliberately trying to conceal, deceive or mislead the transfer of $40,000 to the Republican Central Committee of Stanislaus County and the Republican Central Committee of San Joaquin County, which then passed it to the campaign of Bill Berryhill, his brother, thus circumventing California's contribution limits of $3,600 per donation. (2008)[23][24][25][26]
State Treasurer of Connecticut
Paul J. Silvester (R) was convicted of fraud. (2004)[35]
Local
Mayor of BridgeportJoseph Ganim (D), was convicted of leveraging his position to receive kickbacks from city contractors for more than $500,000 in cash, meals, clothing, wine and home renovations.[36] (2003)
Mayor of WaterburyPhilip Giordano (R) While investigating municipal corruption,[37][38] the
FBI discovered phone records and pictures of Giordano with a prostitute, as well as with her 10-year-old niece and her eight-year-old daughter.[39] He was arrested on July 26, 2001, and, in March 2003, was convicted of 14 counts of using an interstate device,[40] his cellphone, to arrange
sexual contact with children.[41] He was also convicted of violating the girls'
civil rights. He was sentenced to 37 years in prison.
Florida
State Representative
Bob Allen (R) was convicted of
soliciting a sex act from an undercover police officer. (2007)[42]
State Senator
Alberto Gutman (R), was convicted of corruption in a Medicare fraud scheme. Gutman, his wife and 23 others were sentenced to five years in federal prison, three years' probation and fined $50,000. (2000)[43][44]
Mayor of Orlando
Ernest Page (D) was convicted of bribery and official misconduct during a temporary stint as mayor. He was subsequently sentenced to 42 months in prison. (2006)[46][47]
State Senator
Charles Walker (D) convicted of charges including tax evasion, mail fraud and conspiracy (127 counts, in all).[49] He was sentenced to 10 years. (2005)[50][51]
Schools Superintendent
Linda Schrenko (R) sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzlement of federal education funds. (2004)[52]
State Representative
Robin L. Williams (R) was convicted of campaign fraud. (2004)[53]
Sheriff
Sidney Dorsey (D) Convicted of arranging the murder of his runoff opponent and corruption. (2002)[55]
Hawaii
State Representative
Galen Fox (R) was convicted of sexual misconduct when he improperly touched a woman flying next to him. (2006)[56]
State Representative
Nathan Suzuki (D) was found guilty of tax fraud. (2004)[57]
State Senator
Marshall Ige (D) convicted of corruption. (2002)[58]
Illinois
Governor of IllinoisRod Blagojevich (D) was charged with conspiracy to commit mail, wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. He was impeached and removed from office by 59–0 votes of the Illinois Senate.[59] On August 17, 2010, he was convicted on just one of 24 federal charges.[60] In a retrial in 2011, he was found guilty on 17 other counts and sentenced to 14 years in prison.[61][62][63][64] (2011)
Governor of Illinois
George H. Ryan (R) was convicted of 18 counts of corruption and sentenced to six years and six months. (2006)[65]
State Representative
Patricia Bailey (D) was convicted of perjury and fraud. (2005)[66]
Local
Alderman of Chicago
Arenda Troutman (D) was convicted of bribery. (2005)[67]
Mayor of Cicero,
Betty Loren-Maltese (R) was convicted of an insurance fraud. She was sentenced to eight years in prison (2002)[69]
Indiana
State Representative
Dennie Oxley (D) convicted of impersonating a public servant. (2009)[70]
Local
City Clerk of
GaryKatie Hall (D) pleaded guilty to mail fraud. (2003)[71]
Kansas
State Representative
Phil Hermanson (R) while being investigated, Hermanson pled guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of prescription drugs. (2009)[72][73]
Louisiana
Congressman
William Jefferson was found guilty on August 5, 2009, of eleven of the sixteen corruption counts.[74] On November 13, 2009, Jefferson was sentenced to thirteen years, the longest sentence given to a congressman for bribery or any other crime.
State Senator
Derrick Shepherd (D), sentenced to 37 months for corruption. (2008)[75]
Insurance Commissioner
James H. "Jim" Brown (D) convicted of lying to FBI investigators. (2000)[77]
Massachusetts
State Senator
J. James Marzilli Jr. (D) pleaded guilty to all charges against him, including resisting arrest and disorderly conduct and was sentenced to three months in prison.[78][79] (2008)
State Senator
Dianne Wilkerson (D) was video taped by the FBI stuffing bribe money into her bra. Wilkerson pleaded guilty to eight counts of attempted extortion. (2008)[80]
Speaker of the House
Thomas Finneran (D) pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice and received 18 months' probation.[81] (2004)
Maryland
State Senator
Thomas L. Bromwell (D) was sentenced to seven years in prison for racketeering, corruption and fraud to benefit construction company Poole and Kent.[82] (2007)
State Delegate
Robert A. McKee (R) pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to a 37-month term.[83][84] (2006)
Michigan
State Representative
Kevin Green (R) pleaded guilty to driving while impaired by alcohol. (2008)[85]
Missouri
State Senator
Jeff Smith (D) convicted of two counts of obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to one year and a day of prison and was fined $50,000. (2009)[86]
State Representative
Nathan Cooper (R) convicted on two felony counts of immigration fraud. (2007)[87][88]
Nebraska
State Treasurer
Lorelee Byrd (R) pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of misconduct. (2003)[89]
State Senator
Ray Mossey (R) was found guilty and pled no contest to prescription drug charges and was sentenced to two years' probation. He was also sentenced to one year's probation for drunken driving when Mossey's blood-alcohol level tested at twice the legal limit. In addition, he was fined $14,000 for using campaign finance funds to pay an online dating service and a tattoo parlor. (2005)[90]
Regent
David Hergert (R) of the University of Nebraska was arrested soon after his election for violating campaign finance laws. He pled guilty to false reporting and obstruction and was sentenced to five years' probation and fined $654,000 (2005)[91][92][93][94]
Nevada
State Controller
Kathy Augustine (R) was impeached and convicted of using state personnel and property for her re-election campaign, but not removed from office. She was fined $15,000. (2004)[95]
State Representative
Brent Parker (R) pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a male undercover police officer. He was ordered to attend a 10-week therapy class or face up to 180 days in jail. (2003)[96]
Local
Operation G-Sting or Strippergate was an FBI probe into bribes taken by County Commissioners in Clark County, Nevada and City Council members in San Diego, California. It was the result of strip club owners Rick Rizzolo and Mike Galardi trying to remove a "no touch" law affecting the girls in their clubs. The investigation resulted in the convictions of 17 defendants including:[97]
Clark County Commissioner
Mary Kincaid-Chauncey (D) was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, fined $7,600 and ordered to forfeit $19,000 in assets (2006)[99]
Clark County Commissioner
Dario Herrera (D) was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison, fined $15,000 and ordered to forfeit $60,000 in assets (2006)
Clark County Commissioner
Erin Kenny (D) was sentenced to 2+1⁄2 years in prison (2006)
Clark County Commissioner Lance Matthew Malone (R) pleaded guilty to violating federal racketeering laws for bribing commissioners(2006)[100]
New Jersey
New Jersey
Operation Bid Rig: An FBI sting operation indicted 44 New Jersey officials and several Rabbis, mainly for bribery, counterfeiting of intellectual property, money laundering, organ harvesting, and political corruption. Arrested were:
State Senator
Joseph Coniglio (D) indicted for abusing state grants, mail fraud and extortion. (2008)[103]
State Senator
Sharpe James (D) On April 16, 2008, James was convicted of five counts of fraud by a federal jury. On July 29, 2008, he was sentenced by Judge
William J. Martini to 27 months in prison.[104]
State Senator
John A. Lynch Jr. (D) convicted of mail fraud and tax evasion. (2006)
Chief Executive of Essex County
James W. Treffinger (R) was convicted of corruption and fraud and ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution and serve 13 months in jail. (2003)[107]
Mayor of Marlboro
Matthew Scannapieco (R) pled guilty to tax evasion and corruption involving $245K in bribes paid by a real estate developer (2005)[109][110]
New Mexico
State Treasurer
Robert Virgil (D) was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 37 months in prison and fined $97,000. (2007)[111]
State Treasurer
Michael Montoya (D) was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 40 months in prison and a $40,000 fine. (2007)[111]
New York
State Health Commissioner
Antonia Novello (R) pled guilty to misuse of staff by spending $48,000 of public money making them carry out her personal chores, such as taking her shopping and picking up her dry cleaning. She was convicted and ordered to perform 250 hours of community service, pay $22,500 in restitution plus a $5,000 fine. (2009)[112][113]
State Senator
Kevin Parker (D) was charged with felony assaulting and menacing and two misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief for attacking a
New York Post photographer. He was found guilty and served three years' probation for the misdemeanors but was acquitted of the felony charge. (2009)[114][115]
State Assemblyman
Anthony Seminerio (D) pleaded guilty to taking large sums of money from hospitals through a consulting firm while still a member of the New York State Assembly. His appeal was never heard but his conviction was abated due to death. (2009)[116][117]
Supreme Court JusticeThomas J. Spargo (R), was convicted by a federal jury of attempted extortion and attempted soliciting of a bribe for pressuring a lawyer to give $10,000 to his defense fund. (2009)[118][119]
State Senator
Efrain Gonzalez (D) was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years' supervised release, following pleading guilty to two
conspiracy counts and two
wire fraud counts. (2009)[120]
State Assemblyman
Brian McLaughlin (D) was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to ten years in prison for racketeering. (2009)[121]
State Senator
Hiram Monserrate (D), convicted of one count of misdemeanor assault, and acquitted of two counts of felony assault and one other count of misdemeanor assault. (2009)[122][123][124]
State Senator
Diane Gordon (D) was convicted of receiving bribes. (2008)[125]
State Assemblyman
Chris Ortloff (R) while serving on the State Parole Board, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of online enticement of minors. He was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison (2008)[126][127][128]
Supreme Court JusticeGerald Garson (D) was sentenced to 3.5 to 10 years in prison for accepting expensive gifts in exchange for fixing divorce cases. (2005)[129]
State Assemblyman
Clarence Norman Jr. (D) was sentenced to nine years in jail for falsifying records. (2005)[125]
State Assemblywoman
Gloria Davis (D) was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years' probation for bribery. (2003)[130]
State Senator
Guy Velella (R) was indicted for bribery and
conspiracy for accepting at least $137,000 in exchange for steering public-works contracts to the paying parties.[131] He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count and received a year in jail.[132] He served 182 days. (2002)
Local
New York City CouncillorMiguel Martinez (D) pleaded guilty to three counts of
conspiracy two days later. He admitted to stealing $106,000 that was for children's art programs and low-income housing.[133] He was convicted on three felonies, and was sentenced to five years in prison. (2009)[134]
NY City Councilman
Dennis P. Gallagher (R) resigned from office and pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a woman in his district office while he was intoxicated. (2007)[135]
State Representative
Paul Miller (D), was sentenced to a year's probation and fined $1,000 for fraud. (2006)[137][138]
Commissioner of Agriculture
Meg Scott Phipps (D) pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges and served three years in prison. (2003)[139]
State Representative
Michael P. Decker (R) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, honest services mail fraud, and money laundering. Decker, a Republican, solicited Democrats and agreed to accept $50,000 and other gifts in return for switching parties. (2002)[137][138]
State Representative Thomas Wright (R), was found guilty of three counts of felony fraud. He was sentenced to 6 to 8 years(2007)[140][141][142]
Local
Cabarrus County Commissioner Coy C. Privette, (R) pled guilty to aiding and abetting prostitution. (2007)[143]
State Senator
Gene Stipe (D) pleaded guilty to federal charges of perjury, conspiracy to obstruct a Federal Election Commission investigation, and conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act. (2003)[148]
Ohio
Governor of OhioBob Taft (R) pleads no contest and is convicted on four misdemeanor ethics violations. He was fined $4,000 and ordered to apologize to the people of Ohio. (2005)[149]
Oregon
State Representative
Dan Doyle (R) resigned from office and was sentenced to 15 months in jail for finance violations. (2005)[150][151][152][153]
State Senator John Mabrey (R) was convicted of insurance fraud. (2002)[154][155][156]
Pennsylvania
State Senator
Vince Fumo (D) was found guilty of 139 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and filing a false tax return. Two staffers were also arrested and indicted on charges of destroying electronic evidence, including e-mail related to the investigation. (2009)[157]
State Representative
Milton Street (D) convicted of tax evasion and was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison. (2008)[159] Street appealed, but his conviction was affirmed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.[160]
State Representative
Linda Bebko-Jones (D) and her chief-of-staff were charged with forging some of the signatures on their nominating petitions. They were both sentenced to 12 months' probation and fined $1,500 with community service. (2007)[161]
State Representative and Democratic Leader of the
Pennsylvania House of RepresentativesBill DeWeese (D) found guilty of five of the six felony counts with which he was charged and sentenced to 30–60 months.[163] (2007)
State Representative
Jeffrey Habay (R) was convicted of 21 counts of harassment, solicitation for perjury and intimidation. (2007)[164][165][166][167]
State Representative
R. Tracy Seyfert (R) pleaded guilty to Theft of Federal Property by acquiring a $160,000-dollar, 10 ton generator for her own use if the power grid had failed on the Millennium. She was sentenced to five years in federal prison and assessed a $5,000 fine. (2001)[175]
State Representative
Frank Gigliotti (D) was convicted and sentenced in 2000 to 46 months' incarceration for extortion, mail fraud, and filing a false income tax return.[177] (2000)
State Representative
Jeffrey Habay (R) was found guilty on December 12, 2005, of conflict of interest.[178][179] he resigned and was sentenced to 6 to 12 months of prison followed by four years of probation.[180]
State Senator
F. Joseph Loeper (R) pleaded guilty in federal court of falsifying tax-related documents to conceal more than $330,000 in income he received from a private consulting firm while serving in the Senate.[181][182] He resigned his senate seat on December 31, 2000,[183] and was later released from federal prison at
Fort Dix, New Jersey, after serving six months.[184] (2000)
Local
President Judge of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas
Mark Ciavarella (D) sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for his involvement in the
kids for cash scandal. (2009)[185]
Wrightsville Borough Councillor Fred Smeltzer (R) pleaded no contest to rape and was sentenced to six months in prison. (2005)[186]
Puerto Rico
Speaker of the House
Edison Misla Aldarondo (R) was convicted of extortion, money laundering and witness tampering and sentenced to 71 months in prison. See sex scandals. (2007)[187]
Jose Omar Cruz-Mercado was the Associate Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Education when he aided an extortion and kickback scheme that involved fraudulent payments of more than $4.3 million in cash and property from PRDE contractors.[188]
Deputy Secretary of State Angel Ocasio Ramos received 18 months in prison for making illegal payments to Rangel in exchange for government contracts.[189]
Puerto Rico Senator Freddy Valentin, Puerto Rican was sentenced to 33 months in prison for money laundering and extortion in a corruption case involving public-housing contracts in the U.S. territory, a former pro-statehood senator, pleaded guilty in March to the two charges. (2002)[190]
Rhode Island
State Representative and House Majority Leader
Gerard M. Martineau (D) was given 37 months in prison for influence peddling in Operation Dollar Bill. (2008)[191]
State Senator
John A. Celona (D) was found guilty of accepting $320,000 in bribes from the Roger Williams Medical Center and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison. (2007)[192][193]
State Representative Thomas W. Pearlman (R) was charged with fee-gouging and providing incompetent counsel. He was found guilty of misconduct, suspended and ordered to pay restitution. (2004)[194][195][196]
Local
Mayor of Providence
Buddy Cianci (R). His first administration ended in 1984 when he pleaded guilty to assault. His second stint as mayor ended when he was forced to resign following his conviction for racketeering conspiracy named
Operation Plunder Dome served four years in federal prison.[197]
South Carolina
State Treasurer
Thomas Ravenel (R) convicted on cocaine charges. (2007)[198]
State Senator
Charles Tyrone "Ty" Courtney (R) was convicted of bank fraud, mail fraud and making false statements on a loan application. (2000)[199][200]
Agriculture Commissioner
Charles Sharpe (R) was found guilty of charges of extortion, money laundering and lying to federal investigators, stemming from an illegal
cockfighting ring. He served two years in prison. (2004)[201][202]
South Dakota
State Representative
Ted Klaudt (R) was found guilty on all four counts of second-degree rape as well as witness tampering. He was sentenced to 54 years in prison. (2008)[203]
Tennessee
Operation Tennessee Waltz: an FBI sting operation between 2003 and 2007 in which a number of state and local representatives were arrested including;[204]
State Senator
John Ford (D) Sentenced to 66 months for bribery.
State Senator
Kathryn Bowers (D) pleaded guilty to one count of bribery.
State Senator
Roscoe Dixon (D) pleaded guilty to bribery
State Representative
J. Chris Newton (R) pleaded guilty to bribery.
State Representative Ronald 'Ronnie' Davis (R) pled guilty to four felony charges of conspiring to sell fake passports and to supplying drugs to his girlfriend (2002)[206][207]
Juvenile Court Judge, Darrell Catron (R) was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 18 months' probation. (2007)[210]
Utah
State Representative
Brent Parker (R) pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a male undercover police officer. (2003)[96][211]
Judge of the 3rd State District Ray M. Harding Jr. (R) was found guilty of possession of cocaine and heroin and sentenced to 120 days in jail, 2 years' probation, community service and fined. (2002)[212][213]
Virginia
State Secretary of Finance John Forbes (R) was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he admitted embezzling $4 million in tobacco-region economic development money. He was sentenced to 120 months in prison (2009)[214][215]
State Delegate
Fenton Bland (D) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud; sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution (2005)[216]
State Republican Party Director Edmund Matricardi III (R) pled guilty to one count of interception of a wire communication by illegally eavesdropping on a protected Democratic phone call. During sentencing Matricardi was forced to resign, spend three years on probation and fined $10,000. (2003)[217][218][219]
West Virginia
State Representative
Lisa D. Smith (R) pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of mail fraud. She was sentenced to two years in prison, three years of probation and fined $1,000,000.[220]
Wisconsin
State Assemblyman
Scott Jensen (R) convicted of misuse of public workers. (2006)[221]
State Assemblyman
Steven Foti (R) convicted of ethics violations. (2006)[221]
State Senator
Gary George (D) was convicted of fraud. (2004)[222]
State Assemblywoman
Bonnie Ladwig (R) convicted of ethics violations. (2004)[221]
State Senator
Brian Burke (D) was sentenced to six months in county jail for misconduct in office and obstructing an officer for using state workers for his campaign.[223] (2003)
State Senator
Charles Chvala (D) sentenced to serve nine months in prison for campaign violations including coordination violations.[224] (2002)
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^Mauer, Richard, Lisa Demer, and Tom Kizzia. (December 9, 2006). "Anderson indicted on seven counts: Federal bribery case centers on link to prison firm lobbyist." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved May 11, 2007.
^Ex-Alaska Lawmaker Sentenced in Oil Case | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited.
^Corruption investigation who's who, Anchorage Daily News, November 16, 2008.
^Joling, Don (October 15, 2010), "Ex-Alaska lawmaker sentenced to 5 years", USA Today, Associated Press
^"We've moved". Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2019.{{
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^Chicago Tribune, January 30, 2009, "Impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Has Been Removed From Office" by Ray Long and Rick Pearson.
^Chicago Tribune, August 18, 2010, pg 1, "Several panelists dissatisfied, point to lack of smoking gun' by Annie Sweeney, Vikki Ortiz Healy and Noreen S. Ahmed-Uilah.