Cunningham's Wife to Pay U.S. $1.6 Million

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Associated Press
Saturday, October 7, 2006

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 6 -- The estranged wife of disgraced former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham will pay $1.6 million in back taxes and penalties for her role in the bribery scandal that landed him in prison, according to a settlement filed Friday.

The federal government sued Nancy Cunningham last year. The settlement means she will not be prosecuted for any charges relating to her husband's activities, according to papers filed in federal civil court.

Duke Cunningham resigned from Congress and was sentenced in March to more than eight years in prison. The eight-term Republican admitted last November that he took $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors in exchange for government contracts and other favors.

The couple separated in July 2005, when FBI agents raided their home in ritzy Rancho Santa Fe, seizing rugs, furniture and jewelry.

Nancy Cunningham's attorney, Douglas Brown, called the deal "a compromise settlement" and said his client intends to file for divorce soon.