Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham of San Diego, who became a decorated Navy fighter pilot in Vietnam but was later disgraced by a bribery conviction, has died at 83.

According to media reports, he died on Wednesday in a hospital in Little Rock, AR, from an undisclosed illness.

Cunningham was sentenced in 2006 to eight years and four months in prison for his guilty pleas to conspiracy and tax evasion for taking $2.4 million in bribes in return for unduly influencing the awarding of Defense Department contracts.

After being released in 2013, Cunningham denied accepting bribes and said he regretted his plea. He was later pardoned by President Trump in 2021.

The staffs of The San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service shared a Pulitzer prize for national reporting in 2006, thanks to

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