A former Speaker of the Missouri House pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to pandemic loan fraud.
John Diehl admitted that over the course of two years, he received $380,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loans for his law firm, the Diehl Law Group. The low-interest loans, part of the first tranche of COVID relief money, were meant to help businesses survive the pandemic.
Diehl instead spent a portion of the funds on personal expenses, including country club dues, college tuition, and car and mortgage payments. Diehl’s attorney, John Rogers, said his client had already paid back the loans.
This is not the first time Diehl has allegedly misused funds for personal expenses. In 2023, he was fined more than $47,000 by the Missouri Ethics Commission for a variety of campaign finance offenses, including spending about $6,800 on credit cards. Diehl later paid back that amount.
He will be sentenced Dec. 19 on the single count of wire fraud. Rogers and the U.S. Attorney's Office are recommending a term of about two years in prison, but U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk is not bound by the deal.
In exchange for Diehl’s guilty plea, prosecutors in the Eastern District of Missouri agreed not to prosecute him further for the pandemic loan fraud. The language of the deal also seems to indicate prosecutors were aware of other fraudulent behavior for which Diehl will not be charged.
Diehl, his attorney and prosecutors did not comment following the hearing. He was released without having to post bond, but will have to surrender his passport.
Diehl was one of the most powerful Republicans in Jefferson City in 2015 when he resigned after being caught sending sexually explicit texts to an intern.
Updated with additional information from the indictment and Missouri Ethics Commission action.
