ST. LOUIS — Former St. Louis alderman Larry Arnowitz, 66, pleaded guilty Friday to mail fraud relating to illegally using campaign funds for personal use and expenses.
The court ordered Arnowitz to serve 12 months within the Bureau of Prisons and six months under home confinement after being released from prison. He was also ordered to pay $21,197 in restitution to the victims.
Arnowitz was first elected as the alderman for the 12th Ward of the City of St. Louis in 2011. He maintained his political campaign account under the name “Friends of Larry Arnowitz,” according to a press release.
Several individuals and organizations contributed to the campaign account, thinking their donations would be properly used for campaign and reelection purposes.
From June 2015 through February 2019, Arnowitz used donated campaign funds for personal expenses, unrelated to any campaign or reelection purpose, the release stated.
He used funds from the campaign account to make payments towards his personal mortgage and for other personal expenses. He also made “substantial” cash withdrawals from the account for his own personal use.
During 2018 and 2019, Arnowitz held fundraising events at the Sugar Creek Golf Course, where players donated funds to the “Friends of Larry Arnowitz” campaign committee.
Following the fundraising events, Arnowitz failed to deposit any cash donations and one or more checks into his campaign account. Instead, he spent the money on personal expenses.
To conceal his fraud, Arnowitz filed false reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
