Former Missouri House Speaker John Diehl was sentenced Monday to 21 months in federal prison after pleading guilty last year to defrauding federal COVID-19 relief programs.
Diehl, a St. Louis, Missouri, USA-area attorney, admitted misusing $379,900 from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and a subsequent loan modification obtained through false representations.
His attorneys had requested a non-custodial sentence, citing repayment of the funds, but prosecutors argued that repayment should not be considered an extraordinary basis for leniency, noting Diehl’s substantial personal wealth.
According to prosecutors, Diehl used the funds for personal expenses, including payments on a Tesla, Audi, and Jeep, mortgage and pool maintenance, country club charges, cash withdrawals, and roughly $200,000 to fund a defined benefit plan for his law firm, of which he was the sole participant.
Additionally, some of the loan proceeds were allegedly used to pay a civil settlement related to his tenure as Speaker, though prosecutors did not specify whether it was connected to the 2015 scandal in which Diehl resigned over sexually inappropriate messages sent to a 19-year-old House intern.
Diehl will be allowed to report to prison at a later date, completing the federal sentencing process.
