U.S. Governors Convicted of Felonies and Federal Crimes
Prior to Trump, no U.S. President has been indicted, but several U.S. Governors have
U.S. President Donald Trump has made history in many ways, most recently as being the first commander in chief to be arrested. Of course, he is far from being the first U.S. politician to be indicted for serious crimes.
The bipartisan Center for Illinois Politics has compiled a handy list of U.S. governors that have been prosecuted for crimes during or after their tenure in office. The list includes 29 individuals in total and was last updated in 2019 (have there been any recent ones to add to the list?).
Ignoring those that were acquitted or only convicted of misdemeanors, I made this illustration showing 15 that were convicted of felonies, as far as I can tell. The chart shows how many counts they were convicted of, and the number of months they were sentenced (although they rarely completed the full sentence due to pardons and early releases). To compile some of that information, I dug up public records and news articles.
The data shows representation from both parties, although democrats seemed particularly prone to corruption between 1940 and 1987. A few states are also overly represented here, particularly Illinois (hence the source for this information).
Some people feel that a President should rarely if ever be considered for criminal prosecution because of the precedent it sets. But when you consider how many governors have played with fire and got burnt, it was only a matter of time before a President suffered the same fate. And who better than one who seems compelled to broadcast his indiscretions constantly in the social media age.
Donald Trump may have more indictments coming his way, but if he is found guilty of any of the 34 counts he is currently charged with, this might provide some context for what his sentence could look like.
References:
- https://www.centerforilpolitics.org/articles/governors-convicted-on-greater-federal-corruption-offenses
- http://downfalldictionary.blogspot.com/2010/05/warren-t-mccray-signing-off.html
- https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/edwin-edwards-guilty-ex-governor-faces-forfeiture-of-millions-long-jail-term/article_a1df3f0a-dd63-52df-9edb-21caf0902c27.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/30/archives/exgovernor-of-west-virginia-pleads-guilty-to-bribing-foreman-of-his.html
- https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/317828/united-states-v-theodore-j-isaacs-and-otto-kerner-jr/
- https://www.nytimes.com/1975/03/15/archives/exgov-hall-guilty-in-oklahoma-deal-hall-found-guilty-in-oklahoma.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/24/archives/gov-mandel-guilty-on-charges-0f-fraud-and-racketeering-5-associates.html#:~:text=Marvin%20Mandel%20of%20Maryland%20and,Federal%20jurj%20deliberations%20in%20history.
- https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/10/us/ex-governor-of-tennessee-and-2-aides-convicted-in-liquor-license-case.html
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/08/06/former-illinois-governor-walker-admits-bank-fraud/2ba234f2-2d69-4b47-9c15-9925ee25adc3/
- https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/07/10/Corrupt-ex-governor-gets-prison-fine/8896647582400/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Edwards#:~:text=Edwards%20was%20found%20guilty%20on,was%20convicted%20on%2018%20counts.
- https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/john_rowland_sentencing
- https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-george-ryan-scandal-10-years-gallery-20160413-photogallery.html
- https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2006/June/06_crm_409.html
- https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/chicago/press-releases/2011/former-illinois-governor-rod-r.-blagojevich-sentenced-to-14-years-in-prison-for-corruption-in-office
Robert Lawrence writes about science and illustrates data. You can find his published work at: www.robertlawrencephd.com
