A former aide to a sitting Democratic congresswoman on Tuesday pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of dollars from the Ohio lawmaker.
Courtney Hruska, a former staffer to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), admitted to committing felony wire fraud and stealing nearly $23,000 from her former boss’s bank account to pay off credit card debt, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia. Hruska faces up to 20 years in prison and is set to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema on June 23.
Hruska spent years in Kaptur’s office, working her way up until leaving the office in 2022 to work for the Department of Agriculture, according to court filings. Kaptur “provided and entrusted the defendant with Victim’s personal credit card and bank account information” and authorized her to “make specific purchases” as part of her position, documents said, a freedom which Hruska admitted in a plea deal to abusing for her personal benefit.
Between Aug. 19, 2023, and July 30, 2024, Hruska used Kaptur’s bank account information to pay off her card bills on 10 separate occasions, according to the Justice Department.
TRUMP TARIFFS THREAT GOP 2026 ELECTION CHANCES
“Because more than a year had lapsed between Hruska’s first fraudulent transaction and the member’s discovery of the theft, the member recovered less than 9% of the stolen funds in fraud compensation,” the DOJ said.
Prosecutors said Hruska stole at least $22,865.07. The former aide must pay the entire amount stolen, surrender her passport, and refrain from possessing a gun, destructive device, or other weapon, in accordance with her plea deal.