Florida’s “Don’t say gay” law’s infamous author will now spend 4 months in federal jail.
Almost 7 months after the Republican congressman confessed guilty to wiring fraud, laundering funds, and giving false information to investigators, U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor convicted former Florida Rep. Joe Harding on Thursday.
Harding was sentenced to 2 years of supervision and 4 months in federal jail by the judge. After being charged with scamming federal credit programs designed to assist company owners affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, Harding retired from the Florida Assembly.
The Small Business Administration allegedly granted him loans totaling $150,000 for businesses that are no longer in operation. He allegedly used part of the funds to pay off credit card debt or deposited them to personal accounts.