List of United States federal officials convicted of corruption offenses
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This list only includes federal officials convicted of certain select corruption crimes. For a more complete list see:
List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes This list consists of American politicians convicted of crimes either committed or prosecuted while holding office in the federal government. It includes politicians who were convicted or pleaded guilty in a court of law; and does not include po ...
and
List of federal political scandals in the United States This article provides a list of political scandals that involve officials from the government of the United States, sorted from oldest to most recent. Scope and organization of political scandals This article is organized by presidential terms ...
. Dozens of high-level United States federal officials have been convicted of public corruption offenses for conduct while in office. These officials have been convicted under two types of statutes. The first type are also applicable to corrupt
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
and
local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
officials:Peter W. Schroth, ''Corruption and Accountability of the Civil Service in the United States'', 42 554 (2006). the
mail and wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...
statutes (enacted 1872), including the honest services fraud provision, the
Hobbs Act The Hobbs Act, named after United States Representative Sam Hobbs ( D- AL) and codified at , is a United States federal law enacted in 1946 that provides: Section 1951 also proscribes conspiracy to commit robbery or extortion without refere ...
(enacted 1934), the
Travel Act The Travel Act or International Travel Act of 1961, , is a Federal criminal statute which forbids the use of the U.S. mail, or interstate or foreign travel, for the purpose of engaging in certain specified criminal acts. The Senate legislation w ...
(enacted 1961), and the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...
(RICO) (enacted 1970). In addition, federal officials are subject to the federal bribery, graft, and conflict-of-interest crimes contained in
Title 18 Title 18 of the United States Code is the main criminal code of the federal government of the United States. The Title deals with federal crimes and criminal procedure. In its coverage, Title 18 is similar to most U.S. state criminal codes, w ...
, Chapter 11 of the
United States Code In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...
, 18 U.S.C. §§ 201–227, which do not apply to state and local officials. Most notably, § 201(b) prohibits the receipt of bribes, and § 201(c) prohibits the receipt of unlawful gratuities, by federal public officials. Lesser used statutes include conspiracy to defraud the United States (enacted 1867) and the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests. The FCPA is applicable worl ...
(FCPA) (enacted 1977). Where the defendant is a member of the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
, the Speech or Debate Clause of
Article One of the United States Constitution Article One of the United States Constitution establishes the legislative branch of the federal government, the United States Congress. Under Article One, Congress is a bicameral legislature consisting of the House of Representatives and the ...
—providing that: " r any Speech or Debate in either House, enators or Representativesshall not be questioned in any other Place"—limits the acts which may be charged and the evidence that may be introduced.


Inclusion criteria and organization

Only high-level federal officials are included in this list. For the
executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ...
, this means the President, Vice President, and
Cabinet members This is a list of the offices of heads of state, heads of government, cabinet, and legislature, of sovereign states. Date of Origin refers to most recent fundamental change in form of government, for example independence, change from absolute mon ...
(i.e. officials compensated at Level I of the
Executive Schedule Executive Schedule () is the system of salaries given to the highest-ranked appointed officials in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The president of the United States appoints individuals to these positions, most with the advice and co ...
).5 U.S.C. § 5312. For the
legislative branch A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
, this means members of the
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, whether the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
or
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
. For the
judicial branch The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
, this means Article Three judges. Lower-level officials are not included on this list, although they may be prosecuted for the same offenses. Acquitted officials are not listed (if an official was acquitted on some counts, and convicted on others, the counts of conviction are listed). If a defendant is convicted of a conspiracy to commit a corruption offense, the substantive offense is listed. Convictions such as
making false statements Making false statements () is the common name for the United States federal process crime laid out in Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code, which generally prohibits knowingly and willfully making false or fraudulent statements, ...
,
perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
,
obstruction of justice Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is an act that involves unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other gov ...
,
electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...
, violations of campaign finance regulations,
tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...
and
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdicti ...
are not included in this list.
Censure A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a spi ...
, impeachment, and removal from office are also not included in this list. The list is organized by office. The criminal statute(s) under which the conviction(s) were obtained are noted, as are the names of notable investigations, scandals, or litigation, if applicable. The year of conviction is included (if the official was convicted multiple times due to retrials, only the year of the first conviction is included). Certain details, including post-conviction relief, if applicable, are included in footnotes. Political affiliation is also included.


List


See also

* Ulysses S. Grant presidential administration scandals *
List of federal political scandals in the United States This article provides a list of political scandals that involve officials from the government of the United States, sorted from oldest to most recent. Scope and organization of political scandals This article is organized by presidential terms ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:United States federal officials convicted of corruption offenses Federal officials convicted of corruption offenses * Lists of criminals