The estranged husband of Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Whittier) was sentenced to six months in prison on Wednesday for using public funds to pay for lavish trips to the Kentucky Derby and a luxury golf resort while serving as president of a Connecticut energy company. cooperative.

James Sullivan, 56, a former Democratic congressional candidate in Connecticut, was convicted of helping plan trips in 2015 and 2016 for dozens of top employees, board members and family members totaling $800,000. Prosecutors said the trips had nothing to do with the activities of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, which receives federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The $800,000 included travel expenses, privately chartered airline tickets, first-class hotel accommodations, meals, tickets to sporting events, golf expenses, souvenirs and gifts, federal prosecutors said.

For a trip to the 2015 Kentucky Derby, which prosecutors say cost an average of about $9,000 per guest, Sullivan brought his son, brother and sister-in-law, as well as a woman he knew and her boyfriend.

Sanchez dropped her bid for chairman of the House Democratic Caucus after Sullivan’s indictment in 2018. Connecticut court records show the couple are going through divorce proceedings.

A second case against Sullivan and the former CEO of the energy cooperative is still pending. That case is related to Sullivan’s $100,000 in personal and travel expenses, including several bookings that included expenses for Sanchez, such as trips to the Kentucky Derby and to Key West, Fla., in 2014.

Horse kills, suspensions, four scrapes… a Kentucky Derby week like no other

An email was left requesting comment from a Sanchez spokesperson.

In 2018, a spokesperson for Sanchez said she attended a Kentucky Derby trip in a personal capacity as the spouse of a board member, which is expressly permitted by house rules. While she was not required to do so, she did seek the advice of the House Ethics Committee before attending as a precaution, and the committee confirmed that she could attend.

Sullivan, the second of three people sentenced in the scheme this week, apologized in court and called the trips a serious error of judgement,” said New London’s Day newspaper, Conn. He must report to prison on July 12. .