Steve Stockman
| Stephen Ernest Stockman | |
|---|---|
| Born: | November 14, 1956 Bloomfield Hills, Michigan |
| Charges: | Mail fraud, Wire fraud, Money laundering, Conspiracy, Election-law violations, False tax return (23 felony counts) |
| Sentence: | 10 years (commuted December 2020) |
| Facility: | FCI Beaumont Low |
| Status: | Released (commuted) |
Stephen Ernest Stockman (born November 14, 1956) is a former American politician who served two non-consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas. He held the seat for Texas's 9th district from 1995 to 1997 and the seat for the 36th district from 2013 to 2015. After he left Congress, federal prosecutors charged him with running a scheme that diverted about $1.25 million in donor money to personal and political use. A jury in Houston convicted him on April 12, 2018, on 23 of 24 felony counts. The charges included mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, federal election-law violations, and filing a false tax return.[1]
Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal sentenced Stockman on November 7, 2018, to 10 years in federal prison. The court ordered him to pay $1,014,718.51 in restitution. The term was among the longest given to a former member of Congress.[2] He was held at the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont, Texas. On December 22, 2020, President Donald Trump commuted the remaining portion of the sentence and Stockman was released after roughly two years in custody. The action was a commutation, not a pardon. His conviction stayed in place, and the restitution and supervised-release terms remained.[2][3]
Political Career
Stockman was born November 14, 1956, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He settled in the Houston area and entered Republican politics there in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In 1994 he ran in Texas's 9th Congressional District against Jack Brooks, a Democrat who had held the seat for 42 years and chaired the House Judiciary Committee. Stockman won. The result was one of the upsets of the Republican wave that gave the party control of the House that year.[2] He took office in January 1995.
His first term placed him on the far edge of his caucus. He drew attention for statements about the 1993 Waco siege and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He did not seek reelection to the House in 1996. He ran for the U.S. Senate instead and lost in the Republican primary. That ended his first stint in office after a single term.
Stockman returned to the House in January 2013. He won the seat in the newly drawn 36th Congressional District in southeast Texas. In 2014 he gave up the seat to challenge incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary. He filed late and ran a thin campaign. He lost the primary by a wide margin and took about 19 percent of the vote. He left Congress in January 2015.[2] His financial dealings during these years became the basis of the federal case against him.
Fraud Scheme
The government's case centered on money that donors gave for charitable and educational purposes. Prosecutors said Stockman solicited the funds under one set of representations and then spent them on himself and on his political campaigns. The total at issue was about $1.25 million.[1][4]
One donor was Stanford Z. Rothschild Jr., an elderly philanthropist who gave through a foundation. Over a period of months in 2013, Stockman and his aides solicited Rothschild and obtained $285,000. The money was directed to the Ross Center, a nonprofit Stockman controlled. Donor funds that were described as charitable were instead routed through accounts the defendants used for other purposes.[5]
A second donor was the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, which gave $350,000 in 2013. Stockman represented that the money would fund a "Freedom House," a Washington residence meant to house young conservative interns and professionals. The project was tied to a nonprofit, the Congressional Freedom Foundation, that prosecutors said did not exist as represented. The house never materialized. The funds went elsewhere.[5][1]
Evidence at trial showed the money paid for items unrelated to any charity. Reported expenditures included a hot air balloon ride, kennel charges, a dishwasher, personal credit-card debt, and a friend's stay in a rehabilitation facility. Some of the money funded an effort to place an undercover operative in the office of a political opponent to gather information. Other funds were moved into Stockman's campaign accounts in amounts that exceeded federal contribution limits, which formed the basis of the election-law counts.[2][4]
Two associates worked with Stockman and pleaded guilty before trial. Thomas Dodd, a former congressional aide, pleaded guilty in March 2017. Jason Posey, a longtime staffer, pleaded guilty and was later sentenced to 18 months. Both testified for the government. Their accounts described how donor money was solicited and then moved through nonprofit and personal accounts.[5][6]
Trial and Sentencing
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas indicted Stockman in 2017. The case went to trial in Houston in 2018. Prosecutors presented documents and testimony, including testimony from Dodd and Posey, to show how the donor funds were solicited and spent.[6]
On April 12, 2018, the jury returned its verdict. It convicted Stockman on 23 of the 24 counts he faced. The counts spanned mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, federal election-law violations, and one count of filing a false tax return.[1][4]
Sentencing followed on November 7, 2018. Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal imposed a term of 10 years in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The court ordered Stockman to pay $1,014,718.51 in restitution to the defrauded donors. The sentence ranked among the longest handed to a former member of Congress in recent decades.[2][3]
Stockman was designated to the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont, Texas, known as FCI Beaumont Low. He was 61 at the start of his term.
Commutation
While at Beaumont, Stockman contracted COVID-19. He was in his sixties and had documented health conditions. His supporters argued that those conditions raised his risk during the pandemic and asked the White House for clemency.[7]
On December 22, 2020, President Trump commuted the remaining portion of Stockman's prison term. The grant was a commutation rather than a full pardon. The distinction mattered. A commutation shortens or ends a prison term but leaves the underlying conviction in place.[2][8]
The White House statement on the action made the point in plain terms. It said the matter was not a pardon, that the prosecution had been appropriate, and that Stockman remained a convicted felon held responsible by a jury.[2] Under the terms of the commutation, Stockman stayed a convicted felon, remained on supervised release, and continued to owe the court-ordered restitution of more than $1 million.[3]
The Stockman commutation was announced the same day as a set of other clemency grants. Among them were full pardons for two other former Republican members of Congress, Chris Collins of New York and Duncan Hunter of California, each of whom had been convicted of federal crimes.[2] Stockman had served about two years of his 10-year term when he was released.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What was Steve Stockman convicted of?
A federal jury in Houston convicted Stockman on April 12, 2018, on 23 of 24 felony counts. The counts covered mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, federal election-law violations, and one count of filing a false tax return. The case involved about $1.25 million in donor money that prosecutors said he diverted to personal and political use.[1]
Q: How long was Steve Stockman's sentence?
Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal sentenced Stockman on November 7, 2018, to 10 years in federal prison. The court also ordered him to pay $1,014,718.51 in restitution. The term was among the longest given to a former member of Congress.[2]
Q: Was Steve Stockman pardoned?
No. On December 22, 2020, President Trump commuted his remaining prison term. A commutation ends or shortens a prison term but leaves the conviction in place. Stockman remained a convicted felon, stayed on supervised release, and still owed the court-ordered restitution.[2][8]
Q: Where was Steve Stockman incarcerated?
Stockman served his term at the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont, Texas, known as FCI Beaumont Low. He was released on December 22, 2020, after serving roughly two years of the 10-year sentence.[3]
Q: What did Steve Stockman spend the donor money on?
Trial evidence showed donor funds paid for items unrelated to charity, including a hot air balloon ride, kennel charges, a dishwasher, personal credit-card debt, and a friend's rehabilitation stay. Some money funded an effort to place an operative in a political opponent's office, and some was moved into Stockman's campaign accounts in excess of federal limits.[2][4]
Q: Who were the donors in the Steve Stockman case?
Two donors featured in the case. Stanford Z. Rothschild Jr., an elderly philanthropist, gave $285,000 that was routed to the Ross Center. The Ed Uihlein Family Foundation gave $350,000 for a "Freedom House" project that was never built. The total at issue across the scheme was about $1.25 million.[5][1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Former U.S. Congressman Convicted of Mail and Wire Fraud, Campaign Finance Violations, Money Laundering and Filing a False Tax Return". U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 "Trump commutes remaining prison term of former Texas GOP congressman Steve Stockman, who was convicted of misusing charitable funds".Svitek, Patrick.The Texas Tribune.2020-12-22.Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Trump Commutes Remaining Prison Term Of Former Texas GOP Congressman Steve Stockman".Houston Public Media.2020-12-23.Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Former Rep. Steve Stockman Found Guilty of 23 Fraud Charges".Lesniewski, Niels.Roll Call.2018-04-12.Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "United States v. Stockman, No. 19-20198 (5th Cir. 2020)". FindLaw. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Ex-Congressman's Aide Testifies to Blatant Corruption".Courthouse News Service.2018.Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- ↑ "Convicted ex-U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman asks Donald Trump for COVID-19 pardon".Houston Chronicle.2020-04.Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "President Trump Commutes Prison Term For Former Texas Congressman Steve Stockman Who Misused Charitable Donations".CBS Texas.2020-12-23.Retrieved 2026-06-03.