Ex-House Speaker Gets Prison in COVID Loan Fraud

A former speaker of the Missouri House is headed to federal prison. John Diehl, 60, was sentenced Monday to nearly two years behind bars for fraudulently obtaining $379,900 in pandemic relief funds and spending the money on personal expenses, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Defense attorney John Rogers had pushed for probation, noting Diehl paid full restitution before being charged and has significant community and family support. "I can guarantee you he will not be back," Rogers told the court. "I am deeply ashamed of my actions," Diehl said in apologizing to the public and the judge.

The money came from a federal program set up to keep small businesses afloat during COVID shutdowns; prosecutors said Diehl falsely claimed the money was needed to keep his St. Louis law firm going. Diehl admitted in a September plea agreement that he used it for personal expenses, including country club dues, swimming pool maintenance, his home mortgage and vehicle payments for a Tesla, Audi, and Jeep. Prosecutors said he used more than half the money to fund his law firm's defined benefit plan, per the AP, of which he was the only participant, and also paid off a civil settlement related to his time as speaker. Judge Sarah Pitlyk imposed a sentence at the low end of the range and a $50,000 fine to help cover the cost of Diehl's incarceration.

Diehl's fall began in 2015, per the Post-Dispatch, when he resigned as House speaker one day after the Kansas City Star revealed sexually charged text messages between him and a college freshman interning at the Capitol. He was later fined nearly $50,000 for misusing campaign funds. Once seen as a skilled Republican power broker who swiftly climbed the leadership ladder after entering the House in 2008, he will now report to a federal prison at a date still to be set.