U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick sentenced former Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) to 26 months in prison for insider trading on Friday.
“You had a duty to meet and you betrayed that duty,” Broderick told the ex-congressman.
The judge handed Collins the sentence on his two federal charges of insider trading and lying to the FBI.
“I stand here today a disgraced former congressman,” the Republican said during the hearing. “I cannot face my constituents.”
Collins, who was one of President Donald Trump’s earliest supporters in Congress, initially pleaded not guilty after he was arrested in August 2018. Despite the indictment, he chose not to drop out of the 2018 midterm race and was reelected.
He then walked back his claims of innocence and resigned on September 30, 2019, one day before he switched his plea to guilty.
