A former top Missouri lawmaker will spend nearly two years behind bars after admitting he fraudulently diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars in pandemic relief money for his own use.
John Diehl, who once held the position of Republican House Speaker in Missouri, was handed a 21-month federal prison sentence on Monday following his guilty plea to wire fraud charges. The case centered on his misappropriation of approximately $380,000 in federal assistance designed to help businesses survive the economic impact of COVID-19.
Between 2020 and 2022, Diehl obtained the federal loans for his legal practice through a program specifically created to assist companies with operational costs during the pandemic crisis. However, according to his September plea deal, he diverted these funds toward personal expenditures including membership fees at a country club, pool upkeep at his residence, mortgage payments, and car loans for luxury vehicles including a Tesla, Audi, and Jeep.
Federal prosecutors revealed that Diehl channeled more than half of the fraudulent funds into his law firm’s retirement benefit program, where he served as the sole beneficiary. He also used portions of the money to settle a civil lawsuit stemming from his tenure as House Speaker.
Diehl’s political career ended in scandal when he stepped down from his leadership role in 2015. His resignation came after The Kansas City Star published reports about inappropriate text communications he had sent to a college intern working at the state Capitol. Diehl publicly admitted at the time that sending those messages constituted “making a serious error in judgment.”
His legal troubles continued in 2023 when Missouri’s Ethics Commission hit him with approximately $47,000 in penalties for campaign finance infractions, including accusations that he spent nearly $6,800 in campaign donations on personal items.
Defense attorneys had urged the judge to avoid imposing jail time, emphasizing that Diehl had already repaid the entire amount to the Small Business Administration. However, federal prosecutors had sought a sentence ranging from 21 to 27 months behind bars.
Along with the prison term, the court imposed a $50,000 monetary penalty on Monday.
“Through his education and public office, Defendant had every privilege and opportunity, and to put it bluntly, he knew better than to engage in the charged fraud scheme,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith stated in court documents regarding Diehl’s case.
