Former Rep. TJ Cox (D–Fresno) will spend a year and one day in prison.
U.S. District Judge Dale Drozd handed down Cox’s sentence on Monday at the Robert E. Coyle United States Courthouse in downtown Fresno.
The big picture: Drozd sentenced Cox to 366 days in prison after he previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution.
- Cox had asked the court for his sentence to avoid prison time altogether, instead requesting that he be placed under home confinement.
- On the other hand, federal prosecutors pushed for a 41-month prison term.
Driving the news: Cox pleaded guilty in February after accepting a plea deal with the government last December.
- He was originally indicted by a federal grand jury on 28 counts of financial fraud in 2022 relating to his time with Central Valley New Market Tax Credits.
- The former Congressman, who served one term from 2019-2021, illicitly obtained over $1.7 million in client payments and company loans. Cox also fraudulently secured a $1.5 million loan for the Central Valley Community Sports Foundation when he was the organization’s treasurer.
Zoom in: The federal government’s sentencing memorandum revealed that Cox’s misdeeds were discovered because of a 2018 audit by the City of Fresno into the Central Valley Community Sports Foundation.
- The city provided the discovery to the FBI, which opened an investigation that found the full nature of his crimes.
- The audit revealed questionable documentation and practices, such as Cox loaning money to the Central Valley Community Sports Foundation from Central Valley New Market Tax Credits, only to have the sports foundation pay him back personally.
