Former Louisiana State Senator Charged With Wire Fraud

Former Louisiana state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, a Democrat, was charged with one count of wire fraud by federal prosecutors on July 14 for her alleged role in a scheme involving using campaign funds to fund her gambling addiction.

Peterson served as Louisiana state Senator for the 5th District from 2010 until 2022 and as the Chair of State Political Party A between 2012 and 2020.

According to prosecutors, Peterson formed and maintained the “Karen Carter Peterson Campaign Fund” (KCPCF) to solicit and raise campaign funds from individual and corporate donors under the pretext that those funds would be used to help in her reelection for state senator.

However, prosecutors said that Peterson instead diverted, and caused her friends and associates to divert, campaign funds from the KCPCF to the lawmaker’s own personal use.

These activities took place over nearly seven years, according to prosecutors, and the scheme saw Peterson write out checks on the KCPCF account to her friends and associates before directing them to cash the checks and return most or all of the money back to her, prosecutors said.

Peterson then used the money for personal expenses unrelated to her campaign, including to pay gambling-related expenses, prosecutors said.

She is also accused of filing false or misleading campaign finance reports that mischaracterized expenses as legitimate campaign-related purchases when they were instead unrelated to the campaign and for her personal use.

The former Louisiana state Senator told Louisiana television station WWL-TV in March that she had a gambling addiction.

‘I’ve Been Suffering’

“I’ve been suffering with this disease for over 25 years and there have been peaks and valleys in the recovery phase,” Peterson said. “There is a lot of guilt and shame and embarrassment associated with it.”

Peterson resigned from the Louisiana Legislature in early April, citing her battles with depression and gambling addiction as reasons for the