Former 12th Ward Alderman Larry Arnowitz, 66, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud related to his illegal use of campaign funds for his personal use and expenses.
United States District Court Judge Steven R. Clark ordered Arnowitz to serve 12 months within the Bureau of Prisons, and six months of home confinement following release from prison. Arnowitz was also ordered to make restitution to the victims in the amount of $21,197.85.
According to the plea agreement, Arnowitz maintained a political campaign account under the name “Friends of Larry Arnowitz.” Numerous individuals and organizations contributed to the Friends of Larry Arnowitz based upon representations that their political donations would be properly and legally used for campaign and reelection purposes.
However, from June 2015 through February 2019, Arnowitz instead used donated campaign funds for personal expenses, unrelated to any legitimate campaign or reelection purpose. He used campaign funds to make payments towards his personal residential mortgage and for other personal expenses, and he made substantial cash withdrawals from the account for his own personal use and expenses.
Further, during 2018 and 2019, Arnowitz held fundraising events at the Sugar Creek Golf Course, where participating players donated funds to the Friends of Larry Arnowitz campaign committee, either by check or cash Following those fundraising events, Arnowitz failed to deposit any cash donations and one or more checks into his campaign committee account, spending those donated proceeds instead on personal expenses.
To conceal his fraud, Arnowitz filed false reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission, failing to identify the many cash withdrawals from the Friends of Larry Arnowitz campaign account or payments made directly from the campaign account for his own personal use. For example, on February 13, 2019, Arnowitz withdrew $5,000 from his Friends of Larry Arnowitz campaign account in the form of a cashier’s check, which he then mailed to Ocwen Financial Services to pay his personal residential mortgage.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith prosecuted Arnowitz for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.