AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Texas prosecutors are stepping up their probe of a Texas lawmaker who admits he pocketed thousands of dollars in state travel reimbursements.
Assistant Travis County District Attorney Gregg Cox, head of the public integrity unit that oversees official corruption cases, told The Associated Press Tuesday that prosecutors had begun reviewing the travel practices of Rep. Joe Driver before the November elections.
Now that the elections are over, that probe has turned into an active criminal investigation, Cox said.
Driver, a Garland Republican who was re-elected to his tenth two-year term, has acknowledged that for years he collected reimbursements from taxpayers for travel he already had paid for using donated campaign money.
Driver reimbursed his campaign $49,426 after The AP revealed the double-dipping.
Driver did not immediately return phone calls left at his legislative offices Tuesday.
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