Richard Thomas Hanna (June 9, 1914 – June 9, 2001) was a U.S. Representative from California. He became involved in a scandal dubbed Koreagate by accepting bribes from a businessman working for the South Korean government. He was found guilty, resigned his seat, and served one year in prison.

History

Hanna was born in Kemmerer, Wyoming and graduated from Pasadena Junior College, Pasadena, California. He received his BA and LLB from the University of California, Los Angeles and then became a lawyer in private practice, after serving in the United States Naval Air Corps from 1942 to 1945.

Career

Hanna served in the California State Assembly from 1956 to 1963. He was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-eighth United States Congress in 1962 and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1963 - December 31, 1974) to represent California's 34th congressional district, which then covered parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Koreagate

In the 1970s, he received payments of about $200,000 from Korean businessman Tongsun Park in what became known as the Koreagate influence buying scandal. After the payments were revealed, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery and was sentenced to 6–30 months in federal prison, of which he served one year.

Death

After his death on his 87th birthday, June 9, 2001, in Tryon, North Carolina, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Carolina.