ExpressLane
Verified User
A former Black Lives Matter-backed Democratic candidate has been sentenced to 22 months in prison.
Karen Carter Peterson, a former Louisiana Democratic Party chair and state senator, received the sentence on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a wire fraud charge that included routing more than $140,000 in campaign and party funds to outside individuals and companies and using the money on personal expenses, including gambling.
Peterson abruptly resigned from the state senate last April, citing her mental health and gambling addiction. She was charged a month later in federal court with one count of wire fraud.
Peterson's scheme ran for seven years and involved diverting state campaign and party cash to several individuals and companies, which reportedly cashed the checks and provided Peterson with most or all of the funds, according to the Louisiana Illuminator.
Peterson then used the money on personal expenses, including gambling-related costs. She also filed "false and misleading" campaign finance reports that "mischaracterized expenditures as being for legitimate purposes related to her campaign or the holding of public office," the Justice Department wrote in a July press release last year.
Karen Carter Peterson, a former Louisiana Democratic Party chair and state senator, received the sentence on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a wire fraud charge that included routing more than $140,000 in campaign and party funds to outside individuals and companies and using the money on personal expenses, including gambling.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bl...-sentenced-22-months-prison-wire-fraud-scheme
==========================================
She must report to prison in March.
Karen Carter Peterson, a former Louisiana Democratic Party chair and state senator, received the sentence on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a wire fraud charge that included routing more than $140,000 in campaign and party funds to outside individuals and companies and using the money on personal expenses, including gambling.
Peterson abruptly resigned from the state senate last April, citing her mental health and gambling addiction. She was charged a month later in federal court with one count of wire fraud.
Peterson's scheme ran for seven years and involved diverting state campaign and party cash to several individuals and companies, which reportedly cashed the checks and provided Peterson with most or all of the funds, according to the Louisiana Illuminator.
Peterson then used the money on personal expenses, including gambling-related costs. She also filed "false and misleading" campaign finance reports that "mischaracterized expenditures as being for legitimate purposes related to her campaign or the holding of public office," the Justice Department wrote in a July press release last year.
Karen Carter Peterson, a former Louisiana Democratic Party chair and state senator, received the sentence on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a wire fraud charge that included routing more than $140,000 in campaign and party funds to outside individuals and companies and using the money on personal expenses, including gambling.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bl...-sentenced-22-months-prison-wire-fraud-scheme
==========================================
She must report to prison in March.
