investment scheme associated with the sale of shares of Bidbay.com. The Oregonian reported that prosecutors alleged more than $10 million was defrauded from investors in the Bidbay sale of shares based on false statements. Cooley was charged with six counts of money laundering and one count of filing a false tax return in 2002 in an attempt to conceal more than $1.1 million in illicit income. In December 2012, Cooley was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to hiding $494,000 in income from the Internal Revenue Service. He was further ordered to pay back taxes of $138,470 and restitution of $3.5 million to the victims of the Bidbay investment fraud scheme. Death Cooley died on February 4, 2015, in Bend, Oregon. See also List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes List of federal political scandals in the United States Military impostor References External links Biographical directory of the United States Congress "Former congressman, felon Cooley may run for office again", Paul Fattig, Mail-Tribune, March 1998 Wes Cooley on the issues Voters' Pamphlet, May 1998 Wes Cooley at congressionalbadboys.com (cites sources) 1993–94 election receipts and expenditures 1932 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American politicians American people convicted of tax crimes Military personnel from California Oregon politicians convicted of crimes Republican Party Oregon state senators Politicians from Los Angeles Ranchers from Oregon Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Oregon United States Army soldiers University of Southern California alumni