White Collar Crime News

Tom Delay convicted of money laundering charges November 24, 2010

A state jury in Texas today found former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay guilty of money laundering charges relating to a corporate money swap in the 2002 elections.  DeLay was forced to step down five years ago as the second most powerful Republican in the U.S. House.   He later had to resign from his Sugar Land congressional seat in 2006. 

He was accused of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. On the conspiracy charge, DeLay faces a sentence of two to 20 years in prison and five to 99 years or life in prison on the money laundering count.  However, rumor is that he is not expected to do much prison time.  Appeals may delay the prison term for quite some time. 

In preparation for the 2002 elections, DeLay cloned his Americans for a Republican Majority political committee as Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC). TRMPAC was designed to help Republicans win a state House majority in preparation for a mid-decade congressional redistricting in 2003.  That redistricting helped the Republicans take a 17-15 majority from the Democrats and win a 21-11 GOP majority in the 2004 elections.

The thrust of the State’s case against DeLay was an exchange of $190,000 in corporate donations to TRMPAC for an equal amount of money donated by individuals to the Republican National Committee. The RNC money was given to seven Texas candidates specified by TRMPAC.  Thus, unlike typical money laundering cases, DeLay did not launder money from drugs or other illegal activities and the money was used for political purposes.  This should help reduce his exposure at sentencing.

Story is here.