Party: Democrat
Position: U.S. Representative (Massachusetts)
Scandal Broke: February 2, 1992
What began as an FBI investigation into bribery and extortion allegations against Nicholas Mavroules ended with a guilty plea on six counts of tax fraud, the most of any scofflaw on this list. Authorities agreed to drop the lesser charges—which alleged that Mavroules tried to extort $25,000 from a liquor store when he was mayor of Peabody, and that he had demanded $12,000 from the family of a convicted drug dealer. Mavroules was defiant at his plea hearing, but contrite during sentencing. After finding out he would spend more than a year behind bars and be hit with a $15,000 fine, Mavroules apologized to supporters, “for any hurt I have brought upon them,” The Boston Globe reported.
Democrat
State Speaker of the House (Florida)
April 16, 1997
During the 1990s, Bo Johnson publicly claimed he was against legal gambling, and at the same time he was on the payroll of Bally Casino to get a legalized gambling bill on the ballot, allegedly raking in up to $250,000 on the sly—so says an April 1997 report by the Orlando Sentinel. Two years later Johnson was indicted by a federal grand jury on seven counts, including conspiracy, extortion, and tax evasion, with more than $500,000 unreported over a five-year span. Johnson fought the charges to the end, and was convicted of four counts of filing a false tax return. At three years a pop per tax fraud count, Johnson faced up to 12 years in prison—but ended up with just two.
Democrat
Mayor (Atlanta)
August 30, 2004
Bill Campbell can take credit for revitalizing Atlanta, successfully preparing the city for the 1996 Olympics, and 12 years of service on the City Council before he was elected mayor—but, unfortunately, he can also take credit for being a convicted felon. Campbell was convicted of three counts of tax evasion for not reporting what prosecutors said was illegally acquired cash, and hit with two years and six months in prison, a $6,000 fine, and an order to pay $62,823 to the IRS. "Within my heart, I am not sure you have accepted responsibility for what happened," Judge Richard Story
said during Campbell’s 2006 sentencing.
Democrat
U.S. Representative (Ohio)
January 29, 2000
In 1983 James Traficant was Sherriff of Mahoning County. Authorities said he took mob money, but he successfully defended himself in court against the charges. Fast forward two decades, and the charming, talkative Traficant, now a congressman, couldn’t repeat the same trick. He was convicted by a jury in April 2002 on two counts of filing false tax returns, on top of taking bribes and racketeering. For his efforts Traficant was rewarded with eight years in prison and a $150,000 fine. “I've known him for eight years,"
said Steven LaTourette (R-OH) during sentencing. "He's a fighter. He fought this trial.” Like so many others, Traficant fought the IRS, and the IRS won.
Democrat
U.S. Representative (California)
March 28, 1994
Jurors found that Walter R. Tucker III, born into a deep-rooted political family known as the Kennedys of Compton, took $30,000 in bribes when he was Mayor of Compton in the early 1990s, and was guilty of tax fraud on his 1991 and 1992 returns. Despite the conviction and a sentence of two years in prison, Tucker said, “I know what happened in these circumstances. The government knows what happened. It was entrapment,” according to the Associated Press.
Democrat
Elections Commissioner (Louisiana)
August 10, 1999
When investigators found Jerry Fowler had paid more than $15 million for voting machines to two out-of-state-companies they knew they had a major scandal brewing. An elaborate money laundering scheme unraveled, and officials found Fowler had a financial interest in one of the New Jersey voting machine companies he had been rewarding with contracts. But Fowler escaped a long prison stint on conspiracy and malfeasance charges by copping to two counts of filing false tax returns. Still, Fowler’s sentence was heavy: five years and $1.8 million in restitution.
Democrat
State Senator (Pennsylvania)
October 23, 2003
Any state legislator who hangs around long enough, heads the right committees, and makes the right connections might start to think they’re above the law. That’s what happened to Vince Fumo, who investigators alleged received a $17 million donation from Peco Energy through his nonprofit, Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods. Fumo was convicted in March 2009 on 137 felony charges, including two counts of tax fraud and myriad corruption charges, and was later sentenced to 55 months in prison.
Republican
Governor (Connecticut)
December 31, 2003
In case you were wondering if Democrats were the only ones having fun with tax fraud, enter the Republican former Governor of Connecticut, John Rowland, the highest-ranking official on this list. Ousted from office in mid-2004, Rowland pleaded guilty in December 2004 to accepting $100,000 in gifts—without, of course, paying the obligatory taxes. “Obviously, mistakes have been made throughout the last few years, and I accept responsibility for those," he said, according to the Associated Press. “But I also ask the people of this state to appreciate and understand what we have tried to do over the past 25 years in public service.” Aside from public humiliation, Rowland got off relatively light, with a sentence of only one year.
Republican
U.S. Treasurer
October 30, 1992
Two days after the press caught wind that the U.S. Treasurer was being investigated by the FBI, Catalina Villalpando resigned her post as one of the country’s top finance officials. For four years Villalpando’s signature appeared on U.S. currency—the same currency she failed to pay the IRS to the tune of $47,000. While on the taxpayer payroll, Villalpando was still cashing checks from Communications International, Inc. where she had been a senior executive. She was slapped with a four month prison sentence.
Republican
Mayor (East Cleveland)
December 3, 2003
The Nigerian-born Onunwor won his seat at as the head executor of East Cleveland on a platform vowing to oust city politics of corruption. Onunwor stood firm against the racketeering and corruption charges leveled against him, but was convicted of taking bribes and two counts of tax fraud in September 2004. He was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $5 million in restitution on the corruption charges. In a bizarre and tragic twist, Onunwor’s son, Clifton, killed Onunwor’s ex-wife and the son’s mother, Diane, with eight gunshots in September 2008.
Republican
Lobbyist
September 29, 2004
If this were a simple list of corrupt politicos and their associates, Jack Abramoff might well take the cake, the icing, and all the candles. But since we’re focusing on tax crimes, we’ll have to overlook the conspiracy, mail fraud, and web of Capitol Hill operatives and legislators tied to Abramoff’s manipulation of American Indian casino contracts. On the tax front, Abramoff pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion for $1.7 million in unpaid taxes, and was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for his crimes.
Republican
U.S. Representative (California)
July 12, 2005
One of the most brazenly corrupt politicians in the modern era, the former Vietnam War hero copped a plea with investigators, admitting that he accepted $2.4 million in gifts and admitting to one count that he evaded his taxes in 2004. “I have ripped my life to shreds due to my actions, my actions that I did to myself,” Cunningham
said during sentencing, which landed him more than eight years in prison and nearly $2 million in restitution.
Democrat
Secretary of State (Arkansas)
April 1, 1994
William McCuen was ensnared in the Whitewater investigation that threatened to bring down President Bill Clinton. In February of 1996 McCuen pleaded guilty to four felonies, including tax evasion on money from bribes, and expected to get a relatively light sentence in exchange for his guilty plea. Not so—McCuen was slapped with 17 years in prison. McCuen tried to renege on the plea after he heard the length of the sentence, but his request was denied.
Democrat
U.S. Representative (Florida)
December 17, 1992
The popular, five-term Congressman from Florida plead guilty to two felonies—one of them tax related—on May 21, 1993, after a wide-ranging Justice Department investigation found that Lawrence Smith failed to report nearly $150,000 in income and owed the IRS nearly $50,000. “I feel ashamed and small,” Smith said during sentencing, according to the Associated Press. Lucky for Smith, his sentence was also small: three months in prison, and no fine.
Democrat
State Senator (Georgia)
January 14, 2001
In sharp contrast to Lawrence J. Smith, the penal system came down hard on Charles Walker with a sentence of 10 years and one month and a $150,000 fine for corruption, mail fraud, and tax evasion. For every good deed, it seemed Walker reaped the benefits. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that a large portion of $20 million in state money Walker secured for underdeveloped neighborhoods in Augusta went to pay for his own legal fees and other bills. Walker also funneled money into his own pockets from donations to a football charity event he created, ostensibly to provide scholarships.
Democrat
State Representative (Massachusetts)
July 28, 1993
The man who was once Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representative pleaded guilty nearly three years after an investigation was opened into entertainment, including booze, food, and transportation, provided by lobbyists to legislators. The courts ultimately determined that Flaherty owed more than $5,000 in unreported taxes, and gave him two years probation and tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
Democrat
U.S. Representative (New York)
July 11, 2008
Charles Rangel, another long-term congressman caught in a corruption and tax scandal, first felt the heat when The New York Times revealed a sweetheart deal in which Rangel had leases on four low-rent apartments in a Manhattan building. Rangel has never been brought up on criminal charges, but a House ethics panel convicted him of 11 violations, including not paying $60,000 in taxes on rent collected from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic. The reason for the tax violation?
Rangel claimed it’s because he doesn’t speak Spanish.
Democrat
State Senator; Sherriff (Florida; Broward)
August 9, 2007
Ken Jenne served nearly 20 years in the Florida legislature before he was named Broward County Sherriff in 1998. But Jenne didn’t exactly live up to his duty to uphold the law, and 10 years after he left the legislature he was in hot water with the IRS over $100,000 in unreported income. A guilty plea on federal tax evasion and mail fraud charges came in September 2007. Jenne was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, and was forced to resign as sheriff. “He stayed too long, and in the end, he lost sight of what it means to serve the public,” U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta told the Associated Press.
Republican
State Senator (New York)
June 25, 2010
Questions first arose in mid-2010 from federal investigators, as political veteran Vincent Leibell was in the midst of an election campaign for Putnam County Executive. Answers were found just six months later, when Leibell pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and tax evasion, for failing to report $43,000 in income. Leibell won the election, but bowed out of politics before he was sworn in. He faces up to two years in jail at sentencing on May 13.
Republican
State Senator (Pennsylvania)
December 23, 1998
F. Joseph Loeper was the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader when the FBI started to investigate his involvement with—what else?—a tax collection company. Turns out Loeper had a consulting deal with the company that paid him $330,000 over four years in the 1990s. In 2000 Loeper pleaded guilty to falsifying his taxes and was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $20,000.
Democrat
State Representative (Pennsylvania)
September 11, 1999
The tax troubles for Pennsylvania legislators around the turn of the century didn’t stop with Frank Gigliotti, who was first elected to the state legislature in 1989. Less than a year after the story broke of his behind-the-scenes corruption, Gigliotti was in court admitting to shakedowns, accepting tens of thousands of dollars in cash bribes and gifts from contractors, and lying on his taxes—all which landed him a sentence of nearly four years in prison. To top it off, The Morning Call later revealed that Gigliotti spent $3,000 in campaign money to pay legal fees.
Democrat
State Senator (Missouri)
1999
After nearly 30 years as a representative of St. Louis, Senator Banks pleaded guilty in 1999 to a felony charge of filing false income tax returns in 1994 and 1995. In return for his guilty plea, a charge of perjury from an alleged false statement to a grand jury in 1998 was dropped. But despite his plea, Banks didn’t convey much remorse, saying to reporters at the time, “I pleaded guilty to one charge, that’s it. I have no apologies to you or anybody else. I will continue to serve my constituents as I did in the past." Though he was technically not convicted, Banks was ordered to five years of probation and 300 hours of community service. He resigned his senate seat six days before the sentencing, citing “health problems.”
Republican
U.S. Representative (California)
August 7. 2006
The fifth-term Rep. from California’s 42nd district has been under fire for years for being one of “the most corrupt members of Congress” according to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Most of the allegations of his offenses derive from selling land in Monrovia, California, for which he
pocketed millions and avoided paying state or federal taxes. Miller claims he sold the land after the state threatened eminent domain, but the state's version of events differs. CREW filed a complaint with the IRS in 2006, accusing Miller of
three counts of tax evasion.
Democrat
State Senator (New York)
April 21, 2010
Have we heard this one before? In shades of Vince Fumo, Espada allegedly used his nonprofit as a money laundering facility. Officers from the New York Attorney General, FBI and IRS
raided the offices of Soundview HealthCare Network a year ago—a day after the state’s Attorney General filed a civil suit against Espada and nearly 20 other Soundview officials for looting some $14 million from the nonprofit to pay personal and campaign expenses for Espada. Both Espada and his son
pleaded not guilty earlier this month to federal tax fraud charges related to the scheme. The two are charged with 16 counts of criminal activity, including conspiracy and filing false tax returns.
Republican
State Representative (Colorado)
April 7, 2011
Douglas Bruce’s reputation was already tarnished thanks to a kick he directed at a photographer the day he was sworn in to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2007. But, as the author of the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, it’s an unfortunate irony that he was
indicted this month for failing to pay taxes on income he earned between 2005 and 2007. Bruce is accused of funneling his Councilman income into the accounts of a nonprofit he created, Active Citizens Together, as well as failing to file a tax return on income earned in 2006 and 2007 and trying to influence a public servant. The 61 year old is facing six years in prison or a fine up to $500,000.
