RYAN GINES
Former St. Louis Alderman Larry Arnowitz was the target of a federal campaign finance investigation.
Former St. Louis Alderman Larry Arnowitz, who was busted two months ago in a federal fraud investigation, has agreed to plead guilty.
Arnowitz, 66, was indicted in March, accused of illegally using campaign donations to pay personal bills, including his mortgage. He resigned his seat on the city's Board of Aldermen the day before the indictment was unsealed.
The south city Democrat has now reached a plea agreement with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office, according to a motion filed today in federal court. Arnowitz was charged with one count of federal mail fraud, but the motion — signed by his attorney Patrick Conroy and Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith — doesn't specify the charge to which he has agreed to plea.
The motion requests the judge set a date for a combination plea and sentencing hearing 90 days or more from the finalization of a pre-sentence investigation report.
According to the indictment, Arnowitz repeatedly withdrew money between June 2015 and February 2019 from his Friends of Larry Arnowitz campaign account. An example cited by prosecutors was a $5,000 cashier's check he wrote from the account and mailed to a financial services company as part of his mortgage payment.
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