SAN DIEGO, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- A federal judge has ruled against U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., who sought the removal of a forfeiture warning on his house.
Cunningham and his wife are trying to sell the property in Rancho Santa Fe near San Diego, and he says that the warning has scared off buyers and depressed the price. Prosecutors say Cunningham purchased the mansion with the proceeds of a bribe -- an inflated price paid for his previous home by an arms contractor.
Judge Dana Sabraw urged Cunningham's lawyers and federal prosecutors to work out an agreement that would allow the house to be sold with details of the split of the proceeds to be decided later, the San Diego Union Tribune reported.
Cunningham is retiring after eight terms in Congress. He denies any wrongdoing, although he acknowledges he used "poor judgment" in his dealings with Mitchell Wade -- who bought Cunningham's previous house, and then sold it for $700,000 less than he paid for it.
No criminal charges have been filed in the case.
