WASHINGTON – Former Arizona State Representative Richard David Miranda was sentenced yesterday to 27 months in prison for defrauding a charity of more than $140,000 and evading income tax related to those unlawfully obtained funds, announced the Justice Department.

55-year-old Miranda has served as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives for the 13th District from 2011 until his resignation, effective Feb. 20, 2012. Miranda previously served as a member of the Arizona State Senate from 2002 until 2011, and the Arizona House of Representatives from 1999 until 2002. Since July 2002, Miranda also served as executive director of Centro Adelante Campesino Inc., a non-profit charitable organization that provided food, clothing and educational assistance to persons in need, including migrant farm workers, in and around Maricopa County, Arizona.

When Miranda entered his plea last month, he admitted to liquidating Centro, and selling Centro’s sole asset and to use those monies for his own personal use. He did so by getting rid of the volunteer accountant who was a co-signer on the charity’s bank account, and assumed sole control of the charity’s accounts and financial records. He also told the volunteer accountant that the proceeds of the sale would be used to fund scholarships. In March 2007, the building was sold for $250,000, and on March 7, 2007, a significant portion of the profits of that sale, $144,576, were wired across state lines into Centro’s credit union account.

Miranda also admitted that within one week of the wire transfer, he began to withdraw the proceeds from Centro’s credit union account without the authorization or knowledge of Centro’s board of directors. For example, Miranda obtained two checks payable to himself totaling $37,000 and paid off personal credit card debts totaling more than $60,000. By Dec. 31, 2007, Miranda had withdrawn the remaining proceeds (approximately $46,836) using checks, withdrawals and electronic funds transfers, and used the funds to pay off additional personal debts and make numerous purchases for personal travel, services, clothing, food and household items. Miranda also failed to report the proceeds of the sale as income on his IRS Form 1040 for calendar year 2007.