Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Wife Indicted on Federal Corruption Charges

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen were indicted on 14 counts of fraud and conspiracy by a federal grand jury, making McDonnell the first Virginia governor to be indicted or convicted of a felony. The charges stemmed from their acceptance of more than $175,000 in gifts, loans, and other benefits from Jonnie Williams Sr., former CEO of Star Scientific, a company developing a tobacco-derived nutritional supplement called Anatabloc.

The gifts included a $6,500 Rolex watch for McDonnell, a $15,000 shopping spree for Maureen McDonnell, wedding and engagement gifts for their daughters, and personal loans. In exchange, prosecutors alleged that McDonnell used his office to help Williams by arranging meetings with Virginia health officials, hosting events at the Governor’s Mansion to promote Anatabloc, and attempting to secure research studies from Virginia’s public universities to validate the supplement’s health claims.

McDonnell, once considered a rising Republican star and potential vice presidential candidate, maintained he “did not violate the law” and never gave special treatment to Star Scientific. He and his wife were convicted on most counts by a federal jury in September 2014. However, in a landmark unanimous decision in June 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the convictions, ruling that the government’s definition of “official act” was too broad and could criminalize routine political activities. The Justice Department declined to retry the case. The decision significantly narrowed federal corruption law and made it harder to prosecute public officials for accepting gifts in exchange for political access.