Federal authorities have officially dismissed criminal charges against former Rep. Aaron Schock, six months after he reached a deal with federal prosecutors.
Northern District of Illinois Assistant US Attorney Joseph Fitzpatrick told CNN that the court granted their motion to dismiss the charges, which included alleged fraud and theft of government funds, against the Illinois Republican.
In March, federal prosecutors offered Schock a deferred prosecution agreement if he agreed to pay more than $40,000 in back taxes, reimburse his campaign committees approximately $68,000 and avoid any future legal problems.
“Mr. Schock has complied with the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement,” Fitzpatrick told CNN Wednesday.
Schock was charged in a federal spending scandal and indicted on fraud charges in November 2016.
His attorney, George Terwilliger, on Wednesday called the dismissal a “just result.”
“But one that cannot fully rectify the injustices that proceeded it,” Terwilliger said in a statement provided to CNN. “We maintained from the outset that an objective review of the merits would not sustain the allegations made.”
Schock, who served four terms in Congress, resigned in 2015 in the wake of a congressional ethics investigation into reports that he used taxpayer money to fund lavish trips and events.
The scandal surrounding the Illinois Republican’s spending practices ballooned when a Washington Post profile of his whimsically decorated office published in early 2015 raised initial questions about his finances.
Schock paid the government back the $40,000 it cost to redecorate his office in the style of the popular PBS drama “Downton Abbey,” but he later came under scrutiny for flights on private jets, including planes owned by key donors, concert tickets and other entertainment expenses.
Schock was indicted on 24 felony counts including mail and wire fraud, theft of government funds, making false statements and filing false federal tax returns.
As part of March’s agreement, Schock admitted to submitting vouchers for mileage reimbursements without proper documentation that resulted him in getting reimbursements that exceeded the amount of miles he drove. He also acknowledged that he resold tickets, including for the World Series and Super Bowl, he bought at face value for a profit, earning more than $42,000 in income he didn’t report on his federal tax returns.
CNN’s Bill Kirkos contributed to this report.