Massachusetts

Former Lowell State Rep. Leaves Prison for Community Confinement

Former Democratic state Rep. David Nangle, of Lowell, pleaded guilty to corruption charges, including bank and tax fraud

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A former Massachusetts state lawmaker who pleaded guilty to various corruption charges has been released from prison and will serve the rest of his sentence in home confinement or at a halfway house.

Former Democratic state Rep. David Nangle, of Lowell, was sentenced in September to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to illegally using campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, defrauding a bank to obtain loans to buy a home and repay personal debts, and collecting income that he failed to report to the IRS.

The Lowell Sun reported the Federal Bureau of Prisons said Wednesday that Nangle was transferred in April from the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts, to community confinement. Community confinement means Nangle is in either home confinement or at a halfway house. A spokesperson said he could not provide further details for privacy, safety and security reasons.

Nangle was a 22-year veteran of the Massachusetts State House and former chairman of the Ethics Committee. He was heavily in debt and gambled extensively at casinos and online, and then used thousands of dollars in campaign funds to pay for personal expenses such as golf club dues, rental cars, flowers for his girlfriend, gas, hotels and restaurants, prosecutors said.

He concealed his theft by filing false reports that disguised the personal nature of the spending, devised a scheme to fraudulently obtain loans from a bank and filed false tax returns, they said.

Nangle has said he takes full responsibility for his actions and has apologized to his constituents.

Nangle reported to the Bureau of Prisons in November to begin his 15-month sentence. His attorney did not respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment Wednesday.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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