Covering Louisiana
Ex-La. congressman Tonry dies in Miss. at 77
Posted: Jul 6, 2012 10:48 AM by AP
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Richard "Rick" Tonry, a Chalmette, La., lawyer and former congressman who served a prison term for violating federal campaign laws, has died. He was 77.
Richard Tonry II said his father died Tuesday of natural causes at his farm in Lumberton, Miss.
Tonry was elected to Congress in 1976 but resigned four months later amid a federal investigation of vote-fraud allegations in St. Bernard Parish, a New Orleans suburb. He later pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the probe and served a six-month prison term.
His son said Tonry didn't let the scandal define him and spent the next 30 years fighting for clients as a criminal defense lawyer.
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