Double-Dipping Garland Lawmaker Gets 5 Year Probation

AUSTIN (AP) - Republican state Rep. Joe Driver has been sentenced to five years' probation for using taxpayer money in a double-dipping reimbursement scheme.

Driver did not speak Monday during the hearing in a Travis County court. Prosecutors had recommended the sentence last month after the Garland lawmaker pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony charge of abuse of official capacity.

Driver, a 65-year-old Texas House veteran who was first elected in 1992, has acknowledged that for years he collected reimbursements from taxpayers for travel he already had paid for using donated campaign money. He bought airline tickets and meals, and paid for luxury hotel stays and conference registration fees with campaign funds -- then submitted receipts for those same expenses to the state.

Driver could have owed more in taxpayer reimbursements, but House travel records before 2005 already had been destroyed, and Driver's campaign said he was unable to calculate the amount of any double-billing that happened more than five years ago.

He was ordered to pay nearly $64,000 in restitution and a $5,000 fine.

Driver has announced he will not seek re-election. He has served in the House since 1992.

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