WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2020) Former Congressman Duncan Hunter received an 11-month prison sentence for conspiring to illegally use more than $150,000 of his campaign money for personal benefit, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported on Tuesday.
US District Court Judge Thomas Whelan handed down the sentence at a hearing for the former Republican lawmaker from California, the report said.
Hunter pleaded guilty in December to a felony conspiracy charge, one of 60 counts in an August 2018 indictment that also named his wife and former campaign manager, Margaret.
Margaret Hunter is scheduled to be sentenced April 7.
According to the indictment, the Hunters relied for years on campaign contributions to pay routine family expenses such as dental visits, home repairs and fast-food meals. They also used the donations to pay for exotic vacations, private-school tuition, video games and plane tickets for Margaret's mother to travel to and from Poland.
The criminal charges filed in 2018 came after the Federal Election Commission and the San Diego Union-Tribune questioned campaign expenditures Hunter reported in April 2016 - a series of video-game purchases and a payment to his children's private school.
The initial indictment accused the Hunters of misusing $250,000 in campaign funds, although the Hunters later reimbursed the campaign for some of the money, according to the report.
