U.S. Reps member jailed for stealing his own campaign funds

A former member of the United States House of Representatives from California, Duncan Hunter, has been sentenced to 11 months in prison for spending his campaign money on outings with friends and his daughter’s birthday party.
Hunter and his wife Margaret, who was his campaign manager, were accused in a 60-count indictment of stealing more than $250,000 in campaign funds and trying to hide it on financial disclosure records, listing some personal expenses as contributions to wounded warriors.

The money bankrolled private school tuition for his children, his wife’s shopping sprees, weekend trips with his mistress and parties in Washington, according to the indictment.

State Prosecutors submitted to the judge, 87 pages of documents which showed the congressman repeatedly stealing from his campaign funds for a decade. The hearing was held despite many state and federal courts across California and the United States either shutting down or holding hearings by teleconference to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.