Randall Harold "Duke" Cunningham was born on December 8,1941 and is a former American politician, decorated Vietnam War veteran and fighter ace.
56 Facts About Duke Cunningham
2.
Duke Cunningham resigned from Congress in 2005 after having pled guilty to bribery, fraud, and tax evasion in a widely publicized trial.
3.
Duke Cunningham resigned from the House on November 28,2005, after pleading guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes and under-reporting his taxable income for 2004.
4.
Duke Cunningham pleaded guilty to federal charges of tax evasion, and conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, and wire fraud.
5.
Duke Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison and was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution.
6.
On June 4,2013, Duke Cunningham completed his prison sentence; he now lives in Arkansas.
7.
On January 20,2021, Duke Cunningham was granted a conditional pardon by President Donald Trump.
8.
Duke Cunningham was born in Los Angeles, California, to Randall and Lela Duke Cunningham on December 8,1941, one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
9.
Duke Cunningham's father was a truck driver for Union Oil at the time.
10.
Around 1945, the family moved to Fresno, where Duke Cunningham's father purchased a gas station.
11.
Duke Cunningham married Susan Albrecht in 1965; they had met in college.
12.
Susan Duke Cunningham filed for divorce and a restraining order in January 1973, based on her claims of emotional abuse, and the divorce was granted eight months later.
13.
Duke Cunningham later said that his life hit "rock-bottom" in that year.
14.
Duke Cunningham attended Kirksville Teacher's College for one year before transferring to the University of Missouri in Columbia.
15.
Duke Cunningham was hired as a physical education teacher and swimming coach at Hinsdale Central High School, where he stayed for one year.
16.
Duke Cunningham retired from the Navy with the final rank of commander in 1987, settling in Del Mar, a suburb of San Diego.
17.
Duke Cunningham became nationally known as a CNN commentator on naval aircraft in the run-up to the Persian Gulf War.
18.
Guy Vander Jagt of Michigan, longtime chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said that Duke Cunningham had considerable "drawing power" and was treated as a celebrity by his fellow Republicans.
19.
Duke Cunningham was a member of the Appropriations and Intelligence committees, and chaired the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Human Intelligence Analysis and Counterintelligence during the 109th Congress.
20.
Duke Cunningham was considered a leading Republican expert on national security issues.
21.
Duke Cunningham was a champion of education, using his position on the Appropriations Education Subcommittee to steer federal dollars to schools in San Diego.
22.
Duke Cunningham was often compared by liberal interest groups to former congressman Bob Dornan; both were ardent conservatives, both were former military pilots, and both spoke out against perceived enemies.
23.
In September 1996 Duke Cunningham criticized President Clinton for appointing judges who were "soft on crime".
24.
Duke Cunningham favored stiff drug penalties and voted for the death penalty for major drug dealers.
25.
Todd Duke Cunningham pleaded guilty to possession and conspiracy to sell marijuana.
26.
At his son's sentencing hearing, Duke Cunningham fought back tears as he begged the judge for leniency.
27.
Duke Cunningham has always been tough on drugs and remains tough on drugs.
28.
Duke Cunningham was the lead sponsor of the Shark Finning Prohibition Act, which banned the practice of shark finning in all US waters, and pushed America to the lead on efforts to ban shark finning worldwide.
29.
Duke Cunningham unsuccessfully advocated for the death penalty for all those convicted of shark finning.
30.
Duke Cunningham co-sponsored, along with Democrat John Murtha, the so-called "Flag Desecration Amendment", which would add the following sentence to the Constitution of the United States:.
31.
Duke Cunningham advocated for the death penalty for all those convicted of flag desecration.
32.
Duke Cunningham was a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee at the time.
33.
The yacht was owned by Wade; Duke Cunningham paid only for maintenance.
34.
An article in The San Diego Union Tribune reported that Duke Cunningham liked to invite women to his yacht.
35.
On July 14,2005 Duke Cunningham announced he would not run for a ninth term in 2006, saying that while he believed he would be cleared of any wrongdoing, he could not defend himself and run for re-election at the same time.
36.
Duke Cunningham admitted to displaying "poor judgment" when he sold his house to Wade.
37.
In 1997, Duke Cunningham had pushed the Pentagon into buying a $20 million document-digitization system created by ADCS Inc.
38.
When it had not done so three years later, Duke Cunningham angrily demanded the firing of Lou Kratz, an assistant undersecretary of defense Duke Cunningham held responsible for the delays.
39.
Duke Cunningham was criticized for selling merchandise on his personal website, such as a $595 Buck knife featuring the official Congressional seal.
40.
Duke Cunningham failed to obtain permission to use the seal, which is a federal offense.
41.
On November 28,2005, Duke Cunningham pleaded guilty to tax evasion, conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud in federal court in San Diego.
42.
Duke Cunningham initially tried to sell the Rancho Santa Fe house, but federal prosecutors moved to block the sale after finding evidence it was purchased with Wade's money.
43.
Also as part of the plea agreement, Duke Cunningham agreed to help the government in its prosecution of others involved in the defense contractor bribery scandal.
44.
Duke Cunningham announced that he would resign from the House at a press conference just after entering his plea.
45.
Duke Cunningham read a prepared statement announcing that he was stepping down:.
46.
Duke Cunningham submitted his official resignation letter to the Clerk of the House and to Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on December 6,2005.
47.
Duke Cunningham was incarcerated in the minimum security satellite camp at the US Penitentiary at Tucson, Arizona with a scheduled release date of June 4,2013.
48.
Duke Cunningham spent his time at the prison teaching fellow inmates to obtain their GED, as well as advocating for prison reform.
49.
In June 2010, Duke Cunningham submitted a handwritten three-page letter to sentencing Judge Larry Burns, complaining that the IRS was 'killing' him by seizing all his remaining savings and his Congressional and Navy pensions, penalties he feels were not warranted under his plea agreement.
50.
Burns wrote back in August 2010, stating that the agency was collecting back taxes, interest and penalties on the bribes Duke Cunningham received in 2003 and 2004; thus, there was no action for Burns to take.
51.
Duke Cunningham titled the document "The Untold Story of Duke Cunningham".
52.
Duke Cunningham was released to a halfway house in New Orleans in February 2013.
53.
Duke Cunningham told a federal judge that he planned to live in Arkansas and that he would live on $1,700 a month.
54.
The judge denied the request as being beyond the scope of his authority, citing the law that limits gun permits for convicted criminals: a law that Duke Cunningham voted for while in Congress.
55.
Duke Cunningham received a pardon from President Donald Trump on January 13,2021.
56.
Duke Cunningham said that Cunningham should "pay a serious price" for his crimes.