A former speaker of the Missouri House pleaded guilty in federal court on 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, R-Town and Country, 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 was accused of misusing funds for personal expenses. In 2023, he was fined more than $47,000 by the Missouri Ethics Commission for a

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