Adam Taff, the former Republican candidate for Congress, today pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that he illegally used campaign contributions to set up a fraudulent home mortgage.

Taff, 40, Lake Quivira, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of violating federal campaign law during a hearing before U.S. District Judge John W. Lungstrum in Kansas City, Kan. Taff had pleaded not guilty to the charges in September.

Sentencing is set for Feb. 13, 2006. He is free on bond. He faces a maximum penalty on the wire fraud charge of 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million. The maximum penalty on the campaign fund charge is five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

The charges stem from a grand jury indictment in August, alleging Taff and John Myers hatched a scheme in which Taff would appear to have made a $300,000 down payment on a $1.2 million home in Lake Quivira that he had agreed to buy from Myers.

According to the indictment, Taff withdrew $300,000 from his campaign’s accounts at Metcalf State Bank on Feb. 10, 2004, and applied it toward a bank check payable to Myers and Myers’ wife.

At the time, Myers was founder and chairman of Myers National Mortgage Co.

Taff, who worked for Myers’ company, was a Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 3rd District, which includes Johnson and Wyandotte counties and part of Douglas County.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Tuesday’s Journal-World.