DeLay Convicted of Money Laundering

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was convicted Wednesday of political money-laundering charges, four years after DeLay was forced to resign his House seat. On the conspiracy charge, DeLay faces up to 20 years in prison, and on the money-laundering charge, he faces between two and 99 years or even life in prison. Prosecutors claimed that in 2002, DeLay used his political action committee to illegally channel money from corporate donations for a congressional redistricting campaign. DeLay insisted the money swap was legal, and maintained he did not use corporate funds for a congressional race—which is illegal in Texas.