GOP Missouri State Rep Resigns After Convictions For $900K Bailout Fraud And Selling Fake COVID Treatment

Springfield’s ABC News affiliate reports:

A Missouri state lawmaker resigned on Friday after a jury found her guilty on 22 counts for fraudulently accepting hundreds of thousands of pandemic-era federal stimulus dollars and other offenses.

Missouri state Rep. Tricia Derges (R) was convicted on Tuesday after she applied for nearly $900,000 in CARES Act funds for what she said were COVID-19 testing costs incurred by nonprofit Lift Up, but the organization never provided any testing services, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Derges was also found guilty on Tuesday in separate schemes in which she fraudulently marketed a stem cell treatment and illegally prescribed drugs to patients. She faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison without parole.

Read the full article.

JUST IN: State rep. Tricia Derges was found guilty on all counts following accusations she knowingly gave patients amniotic fluid, but claimed it was stem cell treatments.https://t.co/0BlYti74AX

— Bailey Strohl KOLR 10 (@baileystrohlTV) June 28, 2022

Rep. Tricia Derges (R-Nixa), convicted by a jury last week of 22 federal charges including wire fraud, distributing illegal prescriptions & lying to the feds, resigns from the Missouri House. #moleg pic.twitter.com/fKToyUhHj8

— Galen Bacharier (@galenbacharier) July 3, 2022