Associate of Former Arizona Representative Rick Renzi Sentenced to 3 Years' Probation for Conspiracy and Embezzlement; Follows Acquittal of Mr. Andrew Beardall on All Charges
Yesterday, Dwayne Lequire, a former accountant at an insurance firm run by former Republican U.S. Representative for Arizona Rick Renzi was sentenced to three years probation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, according to KTAR.com.
Representative Renzi represented Arizona's 1st Congressional District until declining to seek re-election in 2008. He is alleged to have siphoned off approximately $400,000 from his family insurance business based in Sierra Vista, Arizona, to finance his Congressional campaign. He was indicted in a 47 count indictment relating to the insurance conduct and to a land swap which was unsealed in February of 2008. Last year, the trial court suppressed the wiretap evidence gathered against Representative Renzi, holding that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and federal prosecutors ``conducted an unreasonable wholesale interception of calls they knew to be attorney-client communications.'' Representative Renzi has challenged the indictment in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the criminal proceedings are on hold pending the appeal.
Lequire was convicted in July on eight counts of embezzlement. He was alleged to have diverted customers' insurance premiums to Representative Renzi. Lequire did not benefit from the activity, however.
Another associate of Representative Renzi, Andrew Beardall of Rockville, Maryland, was charged with conspiracy and two counts of insurance fraud for allegedly helping Representative Renzi cover up the transfer, however Mr. Beardall was subsequently acquitted on all charges.
(Postscript: It is the Blog's understanding that Mr. Beardall has filed a Hyde Amendment petition following his acquittal and we wish him and his counsel success in their pursuit).
