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   From: chopadictomy@freedyn.de   
      
   BOSTON (SHNS) – A federal judge sentenced former Rep. David Nangle   
   to 15 months in prison on Wednesday after the Lowell Democrat   
   pleaded guilty earlier this year to illegally using campaign funds   
   to fund a lifestyle that included golf club memberships and casino   
   trips to Connecticut, and lying to banks about his debt to obtain   
   mortgages and other loans.   
      
   Nangle, who spent 22 years in the Legislature, once enjoyed a   
   prominent position in House leadership under former Speaker Robert   
   DeLeo, but he saw it all come crashing down after he was arrested in   
   early 2020 and charged with a raft of crimes, many of which stemmed   
   from his gambling debts.   
      
   Prosecutors said that during the period covered by their   
   investigation Nangle was heavily in debt and gambling at various New   
   England casinos, using campaign funds to rent cars to travel to   
   casinos and even paying someone at Mohegan Sun to collect his   
   winnings so he didn’t have to pay income taxes.   
      
   Campaign finance reform pitched as way to diversify candidate pool   
   U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel ordered Nangle to pay   
   restitution of $33,347 to the Internal Revenue Service, and he will   
   also forfeit $15,650.   
      
   After his prison sentence is complete, Nangle will spend two years   
   under supervised release.   
      
   “He broke the law and violated his duty to the voters – as Chairman   
   of the Ethics Committee, no less. This case is the latest proof that   
   this office is intent on holding corrupt public officials   
   accountable,” said Nathaniel Mendell, the acting U.S. Attorney for   
   Massachusetts.   
      
   Prosecutors had been seeking a prison term of 18 months for Nangle,   
   but the former lawmaker’s attorney Carmine Lepore asked the court to   
   let his client serve 12 months of home confinement and three years   
   of supervised release, instead.   
      
   Lepore, according to CommonWealth magazine, wrote that Nangle was   
   “an effective, diligent, caring and loyal representative of his   
   constituents” driven to his crimes by an addiction to gambling for   
   which he was treated after his arrest.   
      
   Zobel’s decision to sentence Nangle to significant prison time   
   should send a message to “corrupt public officials who try to   
   undermine the integrity of our government,” said Joseph Bonavolonta,   
   special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s office in Boston.   
      
   “State lawmakers are elected by the people, to serve the people, not   
   to serve their own financial interests like David Nangle did. Mr.   
   Nangle betrayed his constituents’ trust and broke the law, knowing   
   full well what he was doing was wrong,” Bonavolonta said.   
      
   A year after he was first arrested at his home in Lowell, Nangle in   
   February pleaded guilty to 23 counts of bank fraud, tax fraud and   
   embezzling campaign funds to pay for dues at a local golf club,   
   rental cars, flowers for his girlfriend, gas, hotels and   
   restaurants.   
      
   He also admitted to concealing debt from banks to obtain a home   
   mortgage and three home equity lines of credit totaling $115,000 and   
   to filing false tax returns for five years.   
      
   All of this took place while Nangle represented the 17th Middlesex   
   District in Lowell, rising under DeLeo to chair the House Ethics   
   Committee and eventually becoming a member of the speaker’s   
   leadership team as one of four floor division chairs.   
      
   Following his arrest in February 2020, Nangle resigned his positions   
   in House leadership, but stayed on in the House and vowed to fight   
   the charges brought against him. He eventually lost his reelection   
   bid to Rep. Vanna Howard.   
      
   A spokeswoman for House Speaker Ron Mariano did not offer an   
   immediate comment from the Quincy Democrat, who served many years in   
   the House and in leadership with Nangle.   
      
   As part of his plea, Nangle agreed to waive his right to appeal any   
   sentence of 30 months or less in prison, and the government gave up   
   its right to pursue obstruction of justice or extortion charges   
   related to an alleged “stream of benefits” Nangle received from an   
   unnamed associate who owns a Billerica company.   
      
   Investigators allege Nangle helped the Billerica business owner by   
   sponsoring and shepherding legislation to benefit one of his clients   
   in exchange for $27,000 that was attributed to a “sham consulting   
   agreement.”   
      
   https://www.wwlp.com/news/state-politics/former-top-house-democrat-   
   sentenced-to-15-months-in-prison-for-fraud/   
      
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