Former Florida lawmaker sentenced to prison for fraud

A former Florida lawmaker who illegally used campaign funds has been sentenced to 13 months in prison for wire fraud.

Acting U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announced former Florida House of Representatives member Dwayne L. Taylor’s sentence Friday afternoon. A jury found Taylor, D-Daytona Beach, guilty of nine counts of wire fraud Aug. 31.

According to court documents, Taylor, 50, falsely reported thousands of dollars of expenditures to the state of Florida during his 2012 and 2014 re-election campaigns. Prosecutors say he did so in order to conceal his misappropriation of more than $60,000 in campaign funds.

Taylor wrote checks to himself, withdrew cash without reporting it and had checks written out to petty cash. In addition to prison time, he has been ordered to pay $62,834.55 in restitution and serve 18 months of supervised release.

Taylor served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2008 to 2016.

“Corrupt public officials undermine the integrity of our government and violate the public’s trust,” said Charles P. Spencer, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Jacksonville Division. “This case is another example of the FBI’s commitment to rooting out public corruption for the people of Florida.”

The case was investigated by the FBI.

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Former Florida lawmaker sentenced to prison for fraud."