USA Political Scams Between 2000–2009

• Alabama Governor Don Siegelman (D) was found guilty of bribery, mail fraud and obstruction of justice on 29 June 2006, and sentenced to 88 months.
• Alabama State Senator Edward McClain (D) was convicted on January 21, 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on 48 counts of money laundering, mail fraud, bribery and conspiracy. He lost his seat because of the conviction.
• Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore (R) was ordered to step down from his position when he refused to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Judicial Building.

• Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R) vice presidential nominee in the 2008 elections. Troopergate refers to her dismissal of Walt Monegan, allegedly because he would not fire State Trooper Mike Wooten, Palin's ex-brother-in-law.

1. A bipartisan Council of Alaskan State Legislators found (in the Branchflower Report) that Palin "abused her power", violating the State Executive Ethics Act.
2. The State of Alaska Personnel Board, which has jurisdiction over state employee ethics cases, completed its own investigation and found no wrongdoing.

• 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. The charges involved bribing Alaska lawmakers who came to be known as the "Corrupt Bastards Club" to vote in favor of an oil tax law favored by VECO that was the subject of vigorous debate during the regular and two special sessions of the Alaska Legislature in 2006, and were part of a larger probe of political corruption in Alaska by federal authorities.

1. Thomas Anderson (R) State Representative for District 19. 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.
2. Pete Kott (R) State Representative for District 17. On September 25, 2007, he was found guilty on three charges of bribery and sentenced to six years in prison and fined $10,000.
3. Vic Kohring (R) State Representative convicted on November 1, 2007, of three counts of bribery by the Veco Corporation. In May 2008 he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
4. Jim Clark Chief of Staff to Governor Frank Murkowski (R) On March 4, 2008, Clark pleaded guilty to one felony conspiracy charge involving theAlaska political corruption probe.^[170]
5. Bruce Weyhrauch (R) State Representative of Juneau was sentenced to five years for bribery, extortion and mail fraud.
6. John Cowdery (R) State Senator of O district. Pled guilty to a conspiracy charge related to the Veco scandal. Sentenced to six months' house arrest and a $25,000 fine.
7. Beverly Masek (R) State Representative of Willow, was sentenced to six months on September 23, 2009 for soliciting bribes.
8. Ted Stevens US Senator (R) – The Veco Corporation was also responsible for "extensive" remodeling at Stevens' home, which doubled in size. Stevens was convicted on all seven charges on October 27, 2008. The charges were later dismissed by Attorney General Eric Holder (D) on April 1, 2009, citing problems with the federal prosecutors case. See Federal scandals.

• California State Senator Roderick Wright (D) charged with two counts of perjury, one count of filing a false declaration of candidacy and five counts of voting fraud. A grand jury accused him of lying about his address when he filed to run for office in 2008. (2008)
• California State Representative Michael Duvall (R-CA) The conservative, family values married politician and father of two resigned abruptly after talking with another legislator over a microphone that was live, during which he described two of his current affairs.
• California State Senator Carole Migden (D-CA) – The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) found 89 violations in campaign finance reporting. The FPPC settled the dispute with Migden for a record $350,000 fine. Migden went on to lose her reelection bid to fellow Democrat AssemblymanMark Leno(2008)
• California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley (D-CA) was accused of laundering campaign funds and sexual abuse, though he was never charged. He later resigned (2005).
• California Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush (R-CA) resigned on June 28, 2000, rather than face impeachment for campaign-finance violations arising out of insurance-industry settlements after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. However, prosecutors later found no wrongdoings and dismissed all charges in 2002.

• Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland (R-CT) – Rowland resigned from office during a corruption investigation, and later pleaded guilty in federal court to one count with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and tax fraud. (2004) He served ten months in a federal prison followed by four monthshouse arrest, ending in June 2006.

• Florida State Representative Ray Sansom (R-FL) resigned as Speaker of the House and was then indicted on charges of grand theft and conspiracy in conjunction with a GOP fund-raiser and developer and the president of a local college. His trial is set for January 2010. In March 2011, the charges against Sansom and another person were dropped, and eventually Sansom and two others paid $310,000 in repayment to the college that had planned the building of the airport.
• Florida Senator Gary Siplin (D-FL) was convicted of third-degree felony and grand theft of $5,000 or more for using state employees for his election campaign. The felony conviction was dropped on appeal. (2006)
• Georgia State Senator Charles Walker (D) was found guilty of 127 of 137 counts, including mail fraud, conspiracy, campaign fraud and tax fraud, including skimming profits from a charity football game. (2005)
• Georgia Schools Superintendent Linda Schrenko(R-GA) was sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzlement of federal education funds.
• Georgia Congressman David Scott (D-GA) has expended $52,000 to $344,000 of campaign funds to himself, friends, family and business during every election cycle since 2002. Shortly after the 2006 election, he was served with an IRS tax lien for over $153,000.
• Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) was arrested and charged with 24 counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and solicitation of bribery in so-called "Pay to Play" schemes, including the alleged sale of President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat which he described in a wire tap as "f*****g golden". Before trial he was impeached and removed from office by 59–0 votes of the Illinois Senate. (January 28, 2009) On August 17, 2010, he was convicted on one of the 24 federal charges, lying to the FBI, and the jury was hung on the 23 other counts. In a retrial in 2011, he was acquitted on one count, the jury reached no decision on two counts, and he was found guilty on 17 other counts.

1. Alonso Monk, former chief of staff to Rod Blagojevich, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud (2009).
2. Christopher Kelly advisor to Rod Blagojevich, pleaded guilty to fax fraud (2009).
3. John F. Harris chief of staff to Rod Blagojevich, pled quilty to one count of mail fraud (2009)

• Illinois Governor George H. Ryan (R-IL) illegal sale of government licenses and contracts as Illinois Secretary of State and Governor. Convicted of 18 counts of corruption. (2006)
• Illinois Scott Fawell, noted Illinois Republican and Chief of Staff to Governor George Ryan was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison for racketeering and fraud.

• Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) and 13 aides were indicted for illegal hiring and firing of state employees. As Governor, Fletcher pardoned all 13, but not himself. His own charges were later dropped under an agreement with the Attorney General.
• Kentucky Deputy Secretary of Health and Family Services Steve Nunn and former Republican State Representative was arrested for the death of his girlfriend in 2009. On June 28, 2011, Nunn pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

• Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards (D) was convicted of extortion, mail fraud and money laundering. (2000)
• Louisiana Insurance Commissioner James H. "Jim" Brown (D) convicted of lying to FBI investigators.

• Massachusetts State Representative and House Speaker Thomas Finneran (D) pled guilty to one count of obstruction of justice concerning misconduct during redistricting. (2004)
• Massachusetts State Senator J. James Marzilli, Jr. (D) was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Arlington, Massachusetts. Prosecutors dropped the case for lack of sufficient evidence.Two months later verbally accosting a woman who was sitting on a park bench. When Lowell Police arrived, Marzilli gave a false name and later led Police on a foot chase that ended in a nearby parking garage. On February 22, 2011, Marzilli pleaded guilty to all charges against him and was sentenced to three months in prison.
• Massachusetts State Representative Salvatore DiMasi (D), the Speaker of the House resigned January 25, 2009, after being indicted on charges of corruption and extortion in connection with the state's computer contracts.
• Massachusetts State Senator Anthony D. Galluccio (D) pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol on December 18, 2009, and was sentenced to six months home confinement. Within 72 hours of beginning his house arrest the court-ordered breath-alcohol testing device detected alcohol on his breath. He was given the maximum sentence of one year in prison.
• Massachusetts State Senator Diane Wilkerson (D) was video-taped by the FBI stuffing bribe money into her bra. She was charged with tax evasion, ethics violations and perjury. On June 3, 2010 Wilkerson pleaded guilty to eight counts of attempted extortion. She was sentenced to 3¹⁄₂years in prison.(2011)
• Massachusetts: Boston Councilman Chuck Turner(Green party) was videotaped by an FBI informant accepting $1,000 cash in exchange for pushing a liquor license for a Roxbury nightclub.Turner was found guilty of making false statements and bribery on October 29, 2010. He was sentenced to three years in jail.

• Maryland State Senator Thomas L. Bromwell (D) was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to seven years in prison for racketeering, corruption and fraud to benefit the construction company of Poole and Kent.

• Michigan State Representative David Jaye (R) was expelled from the House after allegations of wife beating and three drunk driving convictions.

• Minnesota the Republican Party of Minnesota was fined $170,000 for violating federal campaign finance regulations from 2003 to 2008. (2011)

• Missouri State Senator Jeff Smith (D) resigned from the Senate effective August 25, 2009 after confessing to two counts of obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to one year and a day of prison and fined $50,000.
• Missouri State Representative Nathan Cooper (R) resigned shortly before he was convicted on two felony counts of immigration fraud in 2007.

• Nebraska State Treasurer Lorelee Byrd (R-NE) pled guilty plea to one misdemeanor charge of misconduct and resigned in 2003.

• New Hampshire State Representative Nancy Warren (D) was charged with stalking a neighbor and trespassing on his property, the third time in two months. (2008)
• 2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal In the 2002 Senate electionCharles McGee was the Executive Director of theNew Hampshire Republican Party. He was convicted of using computerized phone calls to "disrupt enemy communications" of a Democratic effort to get out the vote for their candidate running against John E. Sununu (R). It was one of the largest scandals in the state's history. Sununu was elected by about 19,000 votes.

1. Charles McGee pleaded guilty to a felony and was sentenced to seven months.
2. Allen Raymond was sentenced to three months in federal prison.
3. James Tobin Regional Director of the Republican Senatorial Committee was also convicted, but was reversed on appeal.

• 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:

1. Daniel M. Van Pelt (R) NJ State Assemblyman (representative). Resigned after indictment for bribery.
2. Acting Mayor of Jersey City L. Harvey Smith(D) indicted for accepting a briber.
3. Mayor of Hoboken Peter J. Cammarano (D) Pled guilty to accepting a bribe.
4. Mayor of Secaucus Dennis Elwell (politician) (D) Resigned afted being accused of accepting a bribe.
5. Mayor of Ridgefield Anthony Suarez(D) charged with accepting a bribe.

• New Jersey Mayor of Newark Sharpe James (D) Was convicted of corruption charges including, mail fraud, conspiracy, wire fraud. (2007)
• New Jersey State Senator Wayne Bryant (D) pension padding, no-show jobs, mail fraud, wire fraud and bribery. (2007)^[243]
• New Jersey State Senator Joseph Coniglio (D) was indicted for funneled more than $1 million in public funding to Hackensack University Medical Center after it gave him a high-paying consulting job. He was convicted on April 17, 2009 on six counts of fraud and extortion and sentenced to 2¹⁄₂ years in prison.
• New Jersey Mayor of Patterson Martin G. Barneswas an American Republican Party politician who served as Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey. He was charged with corruption by the federal government which resulted in a 37-month prison sentence in 2003.

• New Mexico State Senate Leader Manny Aragon (D) was found guilty of three counts of conspiracy to defraud $4.4 million from the State of New Mexico. (2009)
• New Mexico Treasurer Robert Vigil (D) was convicted as a result of a two-year long FBIinvestigation into corruption.He was sentenced to 26 months in prison.

• New York State Senator Kevin S. Parker lost his position as majority whip after he was arrested for criminal mischief and assault after chasing a photographer.
• New York State Senator and Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-NY) – On January 23, 2009, Bruno was indicted on eight counts of corruption, including mail and wire fraud. He was convicted on two counts of wire fraud.
• New York State Representative Brian McLaughlin(D-NY) was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to ten years in prison for racketeering.(2009)
• New York Gerald Phillip "Gerry" Garson New York Supreme Court Justice, Democrat. He was convicted in 2007 of accepting bribes to manipulate the outcomes of divorce proceedings.
• New York State Representative Diane Gordon (D), was indicted on charges alleging that she offered to help a contractor obtain a $2 million parcel of land from the city if he would build her a house. On April 8, 2008, she was convicted on two counts of receiving bribes, two counts of official misconduct and two counts of "receiving awards for official misconduct."

• Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons (R) was under investigation for alleged bribery when U.S. Attorney for Nevada Daniel Bogden (R) was fired by George W. Bush (R) in 2006. (see List of state and local political sex scandals in the United States)
• Nevada State Controller Kathy Augustine (R-NV) was impeached and convicted, but not removed from office. (2004)
• Operation G-Sting or Strippergate was an FBIprobe into bribes taken by 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 change a "no touch" law affecting their clubs. The investigation resulted in the convictions of 17 defendants including:

1. Dario Herrera (D) Clark County Commissioner, in August 2006 was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison, fined $15,000 and ordered to forfeit $60,000 in assets.
2. Erin Kenny (D) Clark County Commissioner, in July, 2007, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and fined a total of $200,000.
3. Mary Kincaid-Chauncey (D) Clark CountyCommissioner, in August 2006, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, fined $7,600 and ordered to forfeit $19,000 in assets.
4. Lance Malone (R) Clark County Commissioner and former Policeman Lance Malone was convicted of 37 charges of bribery and sentenced to three years in prison for his role in bribing San Diego city officials.
5. Ralph Inzunza (D) City Councilman of San Diego,California was also convicted of corruption

• North Carolina Governor Mike Easley (D-NC) involved in several scandals including lavish living and travel irregularities. He pled guilty to one count of campaign fraud and was fined $1000. (2009)
• North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Meg Scott Phipps (D-NC) pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges and served three years in prison. (2003)
• North Carolina Representative James B. Black (D) pleaded guilty to a federal charge of public corruption on February 15, 2007, and was sentenced to five years in prison. See Michael Decker (R)
• North Carolina Representative Michael Decker (R) was bribed by James B. Black (D) to switch parties and vote for Black. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to four years in prison.
• North Carolina State Senator Frank W. Ballance(D-NC) was sentenced to four years in prison for corruption. (2004)

• Oklahoma State Auditor Jeff McMahan (D-OK) was convicted of accepting bribes. (2008)

• Ohio Governor Bob Taft (R-OH) pleaded no contest and was convicted on four misdemeanor ethics violations. He was fined $4000 and ordered to apologize to the people of Ohio. (2005)
• Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann (D-OH) resigns from the post of Attorney General because of a sex scandal and campaign finance irregularities. He resigned on May 14, 2008.

• Oregon State Representative Dan Doyle (R) resigned from office and was sentenced to 15 months in jail for finance violations. (2005)

• Pennsylvania State Representative Thomas W. Druce (R) was convicted in 2000 of a 1999 hit and run that killed a man. He served two years in prison before his release in 2006.
• Pennsylvania State Representative Linda Bebko-Jones (D-PA) 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)
• Pennsylvania State Representative Frank LaGrotta(D-PA) pled guilty to two counts of corruption for giving away $26,000 of state funds to family members through ghost employment in the 2006 Pennsylvania General Assembly bonus controversy. He was sentenced to six months house arrest, probation, and fines. (2007)
• Pennsylvania State Senator Bill Slocum (R-PA) pled guilty to six criminal misdemeanor charges for filing false reports to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and discharging 3.5 million gallons of raw sewage into Brokenstraw Creek while he was a sewage plant manager inYoungsville, Pennsylvania. (2000)
• Pennsylvania 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.
• Pennsylvania State Senator F. Joseph Loeper (R) In 2000 Loeper pled 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. He resigned his senate seat on December 31, 2000, and was later released from federal prison at Fort Dix, New Jersey, after serving six months.

• Puerto Rico Speaker of the House Edison Misla Aldarondo (R) indicted by the US in January of influence peddling. (2002) See state sex scandals.

• Rhode Island Mayor of Providence Vincent Albert "Buddy" Cianci, Jr. (R) His first administration ended in 1984 when he pled 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.

• South Carolina State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel(R) was convicted on cocaine charges.

• South Carolina State Representative Thad Viers(R) was charged with threatening to "beat up" a man who was dating his estranged wife; he pled no-contest and paid a fine of $500. (2006) He would also be charged in 2012 for a similar crime.

• Tennessee Operation Tennessee Waltz – An FBI sting operation between 2003 and 2007 in which a number of state and local representatives were arrested including:

1. John Ford State Senator (D) Sentenced to 66 months for bribery.
2. Kathryn Bowers State Senator (D) Pled guilty to one count of bribery.
3. Ward Crutchfield State Senator (D) Pled guilty to one count of bribery.
4. Chris Newton State Representative (R) Sentenced to one year for bribery.

• Tennessee State Representative Keith Westmoreland (R) was arrested on seven counts of indecent exposure to minors and committed suicide 6 days later. (2002)

• Texas Judge Sharon Keller (R) Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. After a US Supreme Court action, on September 25, 2007, lawyers for convicted killer Michael Wayne Richardwanted a stay of execution. Due to computer problems, however, they could not file the request before 5 pm when the clerk's office closed and requested to file late. When asked, Judge Keller stated that the clerk's office must close at 5, and Richard was executed later that night. On February 19, 2009 a motion of impeachment was filed with the state legislature. (2009)

• Texas Attorney General Dan Morales pled guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion inrelation to a $17 million tobacco industry settlement settlement with the State of Texas in 1998. He was sentenced to four years in a federal prison for mail fraud and tax evasion in a case involving Texas' $17 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998. He was released in 2007.

• Virginia State Representative Phillip A. Hamilton(R) represented the 93rd district and resigned in 2009. on the Virginia Peninsula, made up of parts ofJames City County^[303] He was convicted of bribery and extortion, and sentenced by a U.S. district courtjury to 9¹⁄₂ years in prison in August 2011.

• West Virginia State Representative Lisa D. Smith(R) pled guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of failure to pay employee taxes. She was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of probation and fined $1,000,000.

• Wisconsin State Senator Brian Burke (D) was sentenced to six months in jail for using state employees for campaign work.
• Wisconsin appointee Kevin Kavanaugh (R) was arrested for embezzling $42,000 from a veterans benefit organization called Operation Freedom. Kavanaugh had been appointed to run the organization by Republican Scott Walker who was Milwaukee County Executive at the time. Four others were arrested and sentenced as well.
• Wisconsin appointee Kevin Kavanaugh (R) was arrested for embezzling $42,000 from a veterans benefit organization called Operation Freedom. Kavanaugh had been appointed to run the organization by Republican Scott Walker (R) who was Milwaukee County Executive at the time. Four others were arrested and sentenced as well.

1. Tim Russell, appointed by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker(R) as Deputy Chief of Staff and Housing Director pled guilty during Operation Freedom to diverting more than $21,000 to his personal bank account.
2. Kelly Rindfleisch, appointed by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker(R) pled guilty to felony Misconduct in Public Office and was sentenced to six months in jail after admitting to campaigning for Republicans while working in Walker's Milwaukee County office.
3. Darlene Wink appointed by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker (R) as Coordinator of Constituent Services, pled guilty to fundraising for Walker’s gubernatorial campaign while working in a County building.

• Puerto Rico Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (D) was indicted by the United States on four charges of corruption and conspiracy. He was acquitted on all counts. (2009)