Former Virginia lawmaker sentenced to prison for fraud

SCREEN CAPTURE / WVEC

Former Virginia state legislator Ron Villanueva was sentenced Tuesday

A former member of the Virginia House of Delegates was sentenced Tuesday (July 2) to 2.5 years behind bars with three years supervised release.
The Filipino American former lawmaker also must also pay back more than $500,000 and has to report to prison within 45 days.

Court documents revealed that Ron Villanueva conspired with others to help two Virginia Beach companies secure SBA contracts that had been set aside for minority- and women-owned businesses.

Records say Villanueva was a member of the Virginia General Assembly during part of the conspiracy, and in one instance he used his House of Delegates letterhead to send a letter to the SBA in support of Karda's application to participate in the 8(a) program, knowing that it contained false and misleading statements about who actually operated the company.

Villanueva pleaded guilty to the charges in January of this year. 

"In his repeated false statements to the SBA, the defendant demonstrated time and again that making money trumped his obligations to abide by the law," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Young and Alan Salsbury wrote in court documents. "Such cavalier conduct is problematic enough on its own, but when committed by a public official charged with upholding the integrity of the law, it is especially worthy of condemnation."

"Here I am. I've been held accountable for these things, and I look forward to doing my time and just coming out at the end and being a better person and continue helping people,” apologized Villanueva at his sentencing.

“We are defined by our maker and not defined by our mistakes, and this was a great mistake on my part ... I am just hopeful that I can make amends and be productive again," Villanueva said.

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