A county executive in Missouri who brazenly and illegally steered government funds to his political donors has been convicted and sentenced as a result of an FBI investigation.

St. Louis County Executive Steven Stenger, who served in the role from 2015 to 2018, repeatedly directed his staff to illegally rig county contracts to benefit his political donors.

In the fall of 2014, while still campaigning to be county executive, Stenger met St. Louis businessman John Rallo, who made a $5,000 donation to Stenger’s campaign. Rallo explicitly told Stenger he was “tired of giving money to politicians and not getting anything in return,” according to court documents. Stenger assured Rallo that he would steer county business to him in exchange for the donation—a violation of federal law.