Former Rep. Chris Collins Christopher (Chris) Carl CollinsConspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention NY Republican Chris Jacobs wins special election to replace Chris Collins 5 things to watch in Tuesday's primaries MORE (R-N.Y.) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit securities fraud and another count of false statements on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, according to CNN.

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and three years of supervised release. He was originally indicted on 11 charges that included wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The former congressman was arrested last summer on charges that he traded on nonpublic information about an Australian biotech company. He had previously blasted those charges as “meritless.”

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Under the terms of Collins' plea deal, he will not be able to appeal any sentence under 57 months, with the government agreeing to a range of 46-57 months.

Collins, who became the first sitting congressman to endorse President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE in the 2016 Republican primaries, initially pleaded not guilty when he was indicted last August along with his son and his son's fiancée's father. Both other defendants are expected to change their pleas to guilty in a hearing set for Thursday.

Collins submitted resignation letters on Monday to Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiDemocratic senator to party: 'A little message discipline wouldn't kill us' Overnight Health Care: New wave of COVID-19 cases builds in US | Florida to lift all coronavirus restrictions on restaurants, bars | Trump stirs questions with 0 drug coupon plan Overnight Defense: Appeals court revives House lawsuit against military funding for border wall | Dems push for limits on transferring military gear to police | Lawmakers ask for IG probe into Pentagon's use of COVID-19 funds MORE (D-Calif.) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who will decide whether to call a special election for Collins’s upstate seat before the November 2020 election.

Had Collins not resigned before pleading guilty to the felony, he would have been allowed by law to keep his seat but would have been barred from casting votes under House rules. He won reelection in November after his indictment, albeit by a razor-thin margin in a deep-red seat he had won in a landslide in every other election since 2012.