St. Louis lawmaker pleads guilty to federal charge

ST. LOUIS -- State Rep. John Bowman, a Democrat from St. Louis, pleaded guilty Friday to his role in a bank and credit-card fraud scheme.

Bowman, who was in the Capitol halls this week for the legislative session's opening, pleaded guilty to bribing a bank officer, a misdemeanor. He faces up to one year in prison and up to $100,000 in fines.

He also agreed to resign his legislative seat effective Jan. 31. Bowman, 51, was chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus but stepped down during the 2007 legislative session after the indictment.

His attorney, Scott Rosenblum, said the agreement does not preclude him from seeking office in the future.

Rosenblum said afterward that Bowman accepted responsibility. He said it was difficult for him to resign his office but he appreciated the government's agreement to lower the crime from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Last month, former state Rep. Nathan Cooper, R-Cape Girardeau, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined $6,000 for an immigration fraud scheme that derailed his political and legal careers. He resigned his legislative seat late last year.

Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, and Rep. Joe Aull, D-Marshall, were charged last year with misdemeanors of presenting a false identification at a Boonvile casino. Former Isle of Capri lobbyist Lynn Schlosser of Kansas City was also charged in that case.

Bowman was indicted in January 2007, along with 16 others, in a bank and credit card fraud scheme.

The federal indictment alleged former Bank of America Vice President Robert Conner recruited Bowman and others to submit false applications for small-business credit cards. Conner also was accused of receiving kickback payments.

The indictment alleges Bowman met with Conner at a Bank of America branch office in Chesterfield in January 2006 and submitted a fraudulent credit application in the name of Bowman Consulting.

Bowman is accused of obtaining a $4,050 cash advance using the fraudulent credit line at a St. Louis bank branch, and also of obtaining things in value of $1,000 during a one-year period.

As part of the general scheme, the indictment alleges that credit applicants misrepresented the names of their businesses, the amount of time they had been in operation or their annual income in order to appear worthy of receiving credit.

Conner then had the credit cards sent to him, rather than to the borrowers, so that he could receive a cash kickback of $2,500 to $5,000 from each borrower before turning the cards over to them, the indictment alleges. The first transaction on the credit cards was a cash advance, the proceeds of which were used for the kickback, the indictment says.

More than $1.2 million in charges also were made on the fraudulently approved cards, the indictment said.

Bank of America security systems detected the allegedly fraudulent activities, and bank officials then contacted federal and local law enforcement, said Alex Liftman, a spokeswoman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank. Conner is no longer employed by the bank.