{"id":1105,"date":"2013-10-28T22:18:53","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T22:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/?p=1105"},"modified":"2013-10-28T22:18:53","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T22:18:53","slug":"shame-extortion-bribery-court-orders-richard-renzi-ex-congressman-to-spend-36-months-in-prisonengaged-in-illegal-federal-land-swap-indicted-for-fraud-money-laundering-racketeering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/shame-extortion-bribery-court-orders-richard-renzi-ex-congressman-to-spend-36-months-in-prisonengaged-in-illegal-federal-land-swap-indicted-for-fraud-money-laundering-racketeering\/","title":{"rendered":"SHAME: EXTORTION & BRIBERY! Court Orders Richard Renzi, Ex-Congressman to Spend 36 Months in Prison\u2026Engaged in Illegal Federal Land Swap *Indicted for Fraud, Money Laundering & Racketeering"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Renzi<\/a><\/p>\n

BY TIMMY STEWART\/JUDICIAL EDITOR<\/i>, ARIZONA<\/b><\/p>\n

RICK<\/b> Renzi, a former U.S. Congressman has brought shame and disrepute to his erstwhile hallowed chamber in the legislature of United States as he has been sentenced to 36 months in prison following his June conviction by a federal jury in Tucson, Arizona, for extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering. Renzi\u2019s co-defendant, James Sandlin, was also sentenced today to serve 18 months in prison for his role in the extortion, bribery and money laundering scheme.<\/p>\n

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department\u2019s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Strange of the District of Arizona, Special Agent in Charge Douglas G. Price of the FBI\u2019s Phoenix Division, and Special Agent in Charge Dawn Mertz of the Internal Revenue Service \u2013 Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement following sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Bury.<\/p>\n

Renzi, 55, of Burke, Va., and Sandlin, 62, of Sherman, Texas, were convicted on June 11, 2013. Renzi was found guilty of 17 felony offenses including conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right, racketeering, money laundering and making false statements to insurance regulators. Sandlin was convicted of 13 felony offenses including conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, extortion under color of official right and money laundering.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Renzi abused the power \u2013 and the corresponding trust \u2013 that comes with being a member of Congress by putting his own financial interests over the interests of the citizens he had sworn to serve,\u201d said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.\u00a0 \u201cHe fleeced his own insurance company to fund his run for Congress, and then exploited his position for personal gain.\u00a0 Mr. Renzi\u2019s conviction and today\u2019s sentence demonstrate the Justice Department\u2019s commitment to fighting corruption at the highest levels of government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFormer Congressman Renzi disregarded his oath to uphold the law, ignoring the interests of the people he was elected to serve in favor of his own interests,\u201d stated First Assistant U.S. Attorney Strange.\u00a0 \u201cThe sentences imposed today reinforce the fundamental principle that no one, including an elected official, is above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen our elected officials betray the trust of the American people it strikes at the very core of our democracy,\u201d said FBI Special Agent in Charge Price.\u00a0 \u201cThe sentencing of former Congressman Rick Renzi illustrates the commitment by the FBI and our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute corruption at all levels.\u00a0\u00a0 Today\u2019s sentencing is a reminder that when a public official violates the public’s trust they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public expects its elected officials to be honest, to be trustworthy and to show respect for the law,” stated IRS Special Agent in Charge Mertz.\u00a0 \u201cThose in public office should be held to a higher standard and are not exempt from criminal prosecution.\u00a0 The prison sentence imposed today should serve as a wake-up call to other public officials who believe there are no consequences for betraying the public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to evidence at trial, Renzi, then a member of Congress from Arizona\u2019s 1st Congressional District, promised in 2005 to use his legislative influence to profit from a federal land exchange that involved property owned by Sandlin, a real-estate investor.<\/p>\n

At the time, Sandlin owed Renzi $700,000 in future payments from their business dealings, and Renzi threatened proponents of the land exchange that he would not support it unless they purchased Sandlin\u2019s property in Cochise County, Ariz.\u00a0 When they refused, Renzi promised a second proponent of a land exchange that he would support the exchange if they purchased Sandlin\u2019s property.\u00a0 According to an agreement reached in May 2005, Sandlin was paid $1 million in earnest money, out of which he paid $200,000 to Renzi.\u00a0 Just before Sandlin received the $1.6 million balance owed on the exchange, he paid an additional $533,000 to Renzi.<\/p>\n

Evidence at trial further showed that from 2001 to 2003, Renzi engaged in insurance fraud by diverting his clients\u2019 insurance premiums to fund his first campaign for Congress, and he subsequently sent false letters to his insurance customers and provided false statements to various state regulators who were investigating his activities.<\/p>\n

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service \u2013 Criminal Investigation.\u00a0 The prosecution was handled by Trial Attorneys David Harbach and Sean Mulryne of the Department of Justice\u2019s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gary Restaino and James Knapp of the District of Arizona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY TIMMY STEWART\/JUDICIAL EDITOR, ARIZONA RICK Renzi, a former U.S. Congressman has brought shame and disrepute to his erstwhile hallowed chamber in the legislature of United States as he has been sentenced to 36 months in prison following his June conviction by a federal jury in Tucson, Arizona, for extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}