Former Florida Republican state Rep. Joseph Harding was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to defrauding a coronavirus relief program.
Harding was handed the prison sentence along with two years of supervised release following his imprisonment. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements in connection with COVID-19 relief fraud and has until Jan. 29, 2024, to surrender for his prison sentence.
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“Mr. Harding egregiously betrayed the public trust by stealing from COVID relief funds meant to help the very people who elected him,” Brian J. Payne, special agent in charge at the IRS Criminal Investigation Tampa Field Office, said in a statement. “Greed and public service should never meet, but when they do, we stand ready to ensure bad actors are held responsible for their actions.”
The former lawmaker was indicted in December 2022 and was accused of fraudulently obtaining $150,000 in COVID-19 relief funds from the Small Business Association.
At the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Harding told the judge he had no one to blame except for himself, according to WKMG.
“I want to express my remorse for the decisions and failures I’ve made,” Harding said in the sentencing hearing.
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Harding served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2020 until resigning in December 2022 after he had been indicted.
He was best known for being one of the sponsors of the Parental Rights in Education bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in March 2022. The law outlawed classrooms from kindergarten through third grade from teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity and forbade schools from withholding information from parents about students’ health and well-being. The bill was dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by opponents.
