TJ Cox, a former Democratic congressman from Fresno, is finalizing a plea deal in a wide-ranging federal case in which he is accused of campaign contribution fraud and theft from his own companies, his attorney said Friday.
Cox, 60, previously pleaded not guilty to 15 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, one count of financial institution fraud and one count of campaign contribution fraud.
On May 15, Cox's attorney, Mark Coleman, filed papers in U.S. District Court seeking to schedule a change of plea hearing for July.
“We hope to reach an agreement in the relatively near future,” Coleman told the Times.
He did not provide details about the deal, but said Cox “is taking this very seriously.”
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on a potential deal because it had not yet been filed.
“Things can change,” he said.
In August 2022, Cox, a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives, was arrested by FBI agents and briefly jailed after the federal government unsealed an indictment accusing him of defrauding at least $1.7 million from business partners and several companies he owns. .
Some of the money was allegedly used as illegal donations to his 2018 congressional campaign. In that race, Cox narrowly defeated three-term Rep. David Valadao, a Republican from Hanford, and wrested Republican control of the 22nd Congressional District, purple in color, from the Central Valley.
Cox unseated Valadao by just 862 votes amid the so-called anti-Trump “blue wave” as Democrats took control of the House.
In 2020, Cox lost by 1,522 votes in a rematch against Valadao, who later became one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Cox is expected to have a change of plea hearing in federal court on July 29.
After his arrest in 2022, Cox left the Fresno County Jail and told reporters that he was innocent and a victim of political persecution.
“Politics is a difficult game,” Cox said. “I wouldn't be in this position today if it weren't for politics, and I think we all know that.”
Cox's alleged crimes, according to the federal complaint, involved three businesses: an almond processing company that he partially owned; a nonprofit sports organization, of which he was co-director, that operated an ice skating and hockey rink in Fresno; and a Fresno-based company he partially owned that helped other companies obtain loans and federal tax credits for development in disadvantaged areas.
Cox defrauded the tax credit company and its clients of more than $1 million, prosecutors allege.
The indictment accuses Cox of opening an unauthorized bank account using the company's name “without the knowledge of the other owners” or their accountants, tax preparers or auditors.
He allegedly diverted checks and wire transfers intended for the company and used the money to pay personal expenses, finance other business ventures, and pay personal and business debts.
Cox is accused of causing $750,000 in losses to the almond company's lenders and investors. He allegedly diverted funds using another unauthorized bank account opened without the knowledge of his business partners or the company's accountants.
Prosecutors say that in April 2017, Cox fraudulently applied for a $100,000 loan that was purportedly for almond processing equipment, deposited it into a personal bank account and did not return it.
Some of that money was allegedly used for private school tuition, credit card and mortgage payments, and a $7,000 payment to Cox's political consultant.
The indictment also alleges that Cox lied to obtain significant loan funds.
As a business partner of a Fresno nonprofit sports organization that applied for a $1.5 million construction loan to develop land in the city's Granite Park, he fabricated a board resolution that stated his tax credit company would guarantee the loan, prosecutors said.
The loan was approved, but the nonprofit sports organization ultimately defaulted and the tax credit company purchased the debt after Cox left the company.
During his run for Congress in 2018, prosecutors said, Cox took money from the almond company's fraudulent account and the nonprofit sports organization and gave it to business associates and family members who donated to his campaign under their names. .
If convicted, Cox faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud and money laundering, 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for wire fraud involving an institution. financial, and five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for campaign contribution fraud.
