A former member of the Virginia General Assembly was sentenced Tuesday to 2½ years in prison for taking part in an $80 million government contracting fraud conspiracy.
Ronald Villanueva, 49, a former Republican delegate from Virginia Beach, pleaded guilty to one conspiracy charge this year and agreed to pay more than half a million dollars in restitution.
Villanueva served in the House of Delegates from 2010 until 2018; he lost his seat to a Democratic challenger in 2017.
For much of that time, Villanueva admitted, he and a partner in the tactical-gear supply business used other people as figureheads to get preferential treatment designed to help minority contractors. They also relaunched the company at one point, changing its name from SEK to Karda, so it would qualify for contracts aimed at newer firms.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Rachel Weiner over at the Washington Post