Former Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock has been indicted on multiple fraud charges that could lead to a maximum of 78 years in prison if convicted, according to a new indictment filed by the Justice Department on Thursday.
The indictment stems from an investigation into the former Republican congressman’s use of taxpayer funds, which began after reporters started questioning his ornate decorations in his Washington, D. C., office.
A grand jury led to charges on 24 counts on allegations stemming from 2008 through late 2015, in what the Justice Department has labeled a “scheme to defraud the government, his campaign committees, and others for his direct personal benefit and for the benefit of others.”
Those counts include wire fraud, falsification of Federal Election Commission filings, mail fraud, theft of government funds, false statements, and filing false federal income tax returns.
Schock is also accused of falsifying federal tax returns for failing to report income he received through the alleged scheme.
“These charges allege that Mr. Schock deliberately and repeatedly violated federal law, to his personal and financial advantage,” said Jim Lewis, the lead federal prosecutor for the Central District of Illinois.
“Mr. Schock held public office at the time of the alleged offenses, but public office does not exempt him or anyone else from accountability for alleged intentional misuse of public funds and campaign funds.”
Since Schock’s resignation in 2015, which was prompted by a slew of reports questioning his use of taxpayer funds, an Illinois grand jury has also subpoenaed a number of Schock’s former aides.
The investigation charges that Schock received millage reimbursements for about 150,000 miles that he did not drive, used his campaign committee to buy a new Chevrolet Tahoe truck, committed fraud by having the House reimburse him for $29,000 in camera equipment, and left Congress with the bill for more than $40,000 in office redecorations, including a $5,000 chandelier.
The indictment also charges that he accused a former staffer of logging onto a friend’s social media account and then told that friend that the FBI was now investigating the matter. That prompted the friend to pay $10,000 in legal fees, which Schock allegedly paid for through campaign committees after coming clean that no investigation had taken place.
Schock’s lawyer, George Terwilliger told the Associated Press on Thursday that the indictment will “look bad” but will represent a “misuse of power” by Justice Department attorneys.
He called the charges “made-up allegations of criminal activity arising from unintentional administrative errors” as part of an effort to “take down Aaron Schock.”
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