Duke Cunningham

Duke Cunningham

Randall Harold Cunningham (born December 8, 1941), usually known as Randy or Duke, is a United States Navy veteran and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California's 50th Congressional District from 1991 to 2005.

Cunningham resigned from the House on November 28, 2005, after pleading guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes and under-reporting his income for 2004. He pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion. On March 3, 2006, he received a sentence of eight years and four months in prison and an order to pay $1.8 million in restitution.

Prior to his political career, Cunningham was an officer in the US Navy for 20 years. Together with his Radar Intercept Officer, William P. "Irish" Driscoll, Cunningham became the only navy flying ace from the Vietnam War for obtaining five confirmed aerial victories during that conflict, and one of only five aviators to become an ace during that conflict. To date, Cunningham and Driscoll are the two last aircrew of the United States Navy to achieve "ace" status. Following the war, Cunningham was later an instructor at the U.S. Navy's Fighter Weapons School, better known as TOPGUN, and commanding officer of Fighter Squadron 126 (VF-126), a shore-based adversary squadron at NAS Miramar, California.