Chris Collins, a Republican congressman from upstate New York, surrendered to the FBI on Wednesday morning on securities fraud-related charges, prosecutors said.
Collins, 68, faces insider trading charges along with his son, Cameron Collins, and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron Collins' fiancée, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York.
The case is related to Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian biotech company, on which the elder Collins served on the board.
Collins, one of Donald Trump's early supporters in his bid for president, is expected to appear in federal court later Wednesday in Manhattan.Collins was the first sitting member of the House to endorse Trump in February 2016, indicating he knew a fellow criminal when he saw him.
The New York 27th Congressional District is rated as +11 Republican, which, if given the results from Ohio and elsewhere in the past year, makes it a potential pick-up for Democrat Nate McMurray (whether or not Collins has to drop out of the race).
Finally, we would be remiss if we didn't add the appropriate coda: "Lock him up! Lock him up!"
