FORMER STOCKMAN AIDE SENTENCED TO PRISON

  

A onetime aide to former U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman of Houston, will follow his former boss to federal prison in a $1.25 million charity and campaign funds scam.

Thomas Dodd was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months and ordered to repay $800,000.

Dodd pleaded guilty in 2017 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and to conspiracy to make conduit contributions and false statements.

Prosecutors say Stockman spent funds, solicited for charitable and nonprofit efforts, on personal bills and his campaign.

In April, Stockman was convicted on 23 counts including fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. He was sentenced in November to 10 years in prison.

Stockman served in the U.S. House from 1995 until 1997, and from 2013 until 2015. He failed in a U.S. Senate bid.