WASHINGTON – A former congressman was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution for defrauding charitable donors to pay for his personal expenses, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Stephen Stockman, 61, a former U.S. representative from Texas, was convicted in April of 23 counts of mail fraud, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, money laundering and filing a false tax return.

Two of his former aides pleaded guilty in the case. Thomas Dodd, 39, of Houston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in March 2017. Jason Posey, 48, of Tupelo, Mississippi, pleaded guilty in October 2017 to mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

“Former Rep. Stockman stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from charities, then used the money to pay personal expenses and fund his political campaigns,” Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said in announcing the sentence. “As this case demonstrates, the Justice Department and our law enforcement partners will aggressively pursue corrupt public officials, including those who seek to corrupt our elections for personal gain.”

Stockman served in Congress in 1995 and 1996, and again in 2013 and 2014.

From May 2010 to February 2014, Stockman and his aides solicited $1.25 million in donations from charitable organizations under false pretenses, according to evidence presented at trial. The money was then laundered through a series of sham nonprofit organizations and dozens of bank accounts before it was spent on Stockman’s personal and campaign expenses, according to the department.

For example, an elderly donor in Baltimore contributed $285,000 in 2010 and another $165,000 in 2011 and 2012. The initial money went to a sham charity called the Ross Center that paid Stockman’s personal expenses and the later money paid for his second congressional campaign, the department said.

As soon as he rejoined the House, Stockman solicited a $350,000 charitable donation for the sham nonprofit Life Without Limits, the department said. But he and his aides instead used the money to pay for surveillance of a political opponent, inpatient alcoholism treatment for a female associate and campaign mailings and robocalls, the department said.

Stockman’s 2014 Senate campaign benefited from a $450,571 donation to another sham nonprofit, the department said. Stockman and Posey filed false affidavits with the FEC to cover up the lawmaker’s involvement, the department said.

Stockman didn’t pay taxes any of the fraudulently acquired money, the department said. He told Posey to flee to Egypt as the federal investigation began, to avoid questioning.

“At trial, the government proved to the jury that former Congressman Stockman ran his campaign and fraudulent charities to simply enrich himself and defrauded well-meaning donors,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick said. “This type of corruption by public officials gives our entire democratic system a black eye.”