Former Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., will serve his 11-month sentence for conspiring to misuse campaign funds at a West Texas prison camp, his lawyer announced.
Hunter will do his time at the Federal Correctional Institute La Tuna in Anthony, Texas — near El Paso and just under a 10-hour drive from Hunter's hometown of Alpine, California, lawyer Devin Burstein told Roll Call.
He will report to the federal prison's adjacent minimum-security satellite camp Jan. 4, Burstein told the news outlet Friday. Hunter was initially scheduled to begin his time in custody in May, a date that got pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The former lawmaker was convicted of spending more than $150,000 in campaign funds on personal uses. He spent campaign money on a plethora of personal endeavors, including extramarital affairs, tobacco and a late-night bachelor party in Washington.
Roll Call reported Hunter is somewhat fortunate because he will not have to serve time in closer Bureau of Prison facilities, such as MDC Los Angeles, an administrative security metropolitan detention center that hosts a wide variety of inmates, some of whom are considered dangerous.
Alan Ellis, a federal criminal defense lawyer who writes the Federal Prison Guidebook, told Roll Call he suspects Hunter was sent to Texas to get him away from his "sphere of influence."
FCI La Tuna has 737 total inmates: 586 at the correctional institution and 151 at the adjacent camp where Hunter will serve his time, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
"There's no violence at camps," Ellis told Roll Call.
"If you so much as look cross eyed at another inmate, they're going to put one or both of you in a housing unit until they figure out what’s happening and one or both of you will be transferred to another facility."
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