Constance A. Howard (born 1942) is an American politician. She is a former

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

, representing the 34th District from 1995 to 2012. In 2008, Howard was named as one of Utne Reader magazine's “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World.” She is also a convicted felon. Originally elected from the 32nd district, her district became the 34th in 2002, following

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

. She resigned from office in July 2012.

Federal conviction

Federal authorities caught Howard as part of a sweeping FBI probe into Illinois grant money that began in 2010. She had helped found Let's Talk, Let's Test Foundation, a nonprofit organization that sought to educate the black community about HIV/AIDS and provide testing services. The foundation received $1.7 million in state grant money in 2007. Its executive director, Lloyd Kelly, who also worked as one of Howard's aides, was indicted after spending some of that money on a home, football tickets and alcohol, and to pay for interns at Howard's legislative office. She had also started a scholarship fund aimed at helping minority students learn digital technology. She hosted an annual golf outing to raise money for it. Prosecutors said she raised about $76,700 between 2003 and 2007 but gave out only $12,500. She spent about $28,000 on personal and political expenses, which she was eventually ordered to pay back as part of her plea deal. It was unclear where the rest of the money went. A contribution mailed to her for one of the golf outings led to the mail fraud charge. Howard was an Illinois House member at the time of the crime. Confronted with the evidence, Howard waived indictment and pleaded guilty to mail fraud on July 24, 2013. She was sentenced to a term of three months in prison.

References

External links

Illinois General Assembly – Representative Constance A. Howard (D) 34th District
official IL House website
BillsCommitteesProject Vote Smart – Representative Constance A. 'Connie' Howard (IL)
profile *''Follow the Money'' – Constance A (Connie) Howard
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campaign contributions

profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Constance 1942 births Living people African-American state legislators in Illinois African-American women in politics Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 2000 United States presidential electors 2004 United States presidential electors 2008 United States presidential electors Women state legislators in Illinois Illinois politicians convicted of crimes 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians