The day of reckoning for former congressman TJ Cox is near.

More than two years after the federal government accused Cox of 28 counts of fraud, money laundering, and illegal campaign contributions, he is scheduled to return to court Wednesday at 2 p.m. for a change of plea hearing. Linda Lopez, a visiting judge from the southern district of California, will preside.

Cox initially pleaded not guilty.

The case has been delayed several times in the last two years, partly because of the voluminous amount of evidence — more than 1 million pages of records. A change of plea hearing has also been delayed to hammer out how much time Cox could serve.

A source with knowledge of the negotiations said Cox is asking for probation and no time served.

Mark Coleman, Cox’s attorney, said negotiations with the federal government are ongoing, but would not expand on details of a possible deal. He did say some charges could be dropped.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told GV Wire, “The plea agreement is not public yet and will most likely indicate the potential time he faces, which will probably differ from what was in the indictment.”

At the time of the indictment in 2022, the DOJ said Cox could face 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud and money laundering; 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for wire fraud; and five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for campaign contribution fraud.

None of the alleged crimes took place when Cox, D-Fresno, served one term in Congress from 2019 until 2021. He defeated incumbent David Valadao, R-Kings County, in 2018, before Valadao won a 2020 rematch.

Business Partner Never Felt Defrauded

In one of the businesses the DOJ investigated, Cox partnered with Grant Willits and Sonya Trevino to own California Custom Processing, an almond processor in Madera County. Cox’s role, according to the 2022 indictment, was to seek out new investors.

Joe Rossi, a one-time Fresno winemaker now living in Monterey, served as the silent partner.

“TJ was a manager, and so he did whatever he wanted to do as manager. And that was never my position to agree or disagree with what was going on with the money,” Rossi told GV Wire.

The indictment accused Cox of opening his own bank account to “divert money” from CCP.

“I know he was taking money and putting it in one business and another business, trying to keep them all afloat. And that’s the way I looked at it. But I didn’t know how much money was going where or to who,” Rossi said.

The allegations include Cox making false representations to a certain pair of investors, not clearly identified in the indictment. They lent a total of $100,000, deposited into Cox’s personal account. While Cox made interest payments, the government said, he did not return the principal — and spent that money on personal expenses.

One possible reason, a person familiar with the case told GV Wire, was to keep certain loans “off the books,” to receive more favorable loan terms from other institutions.

California Custom Processing did not return messages seeking comment.

The government said Cox caused $750,000 in losses to CCP and its investors. Rossi said he disagreed with that number, and never felt defrauded.

Rossi said that Cox may have not engaged in the best financial practices in moving money from account to account.

“I got the impression that he was doing some of that, but I always thought it was for a good purpose,” Rossi said. “I think his heart was in the right spot. It just didn’t turn out right.”

“I don’t think he’s a crook. One thing led to another. And he got over his head and tried to keep it going, and that’s what happened,” Rossi said.

Rossi said that there were times that Cox could not pay back loans made by investors, and as a result losing his share of the company to other investors. Cox made the transactions without approval of his business partners, Rossi said.

“That upset the CCP people because they didn’t want anybody else as owners, and they just showed up unannounced. So, that was not good,” Rossi said.

Diverting Tax Credit Company Funds Allegations

Cox partnered with well-known Fresno business members Tom Richards and Ed Kashian to form Central Valley NMTC — a firm that helped companies identify and utilize federal tax credits, mainly to develop in underserved areas.

The DOJ accused Cox of diverting company funds into his own accounts. Cox allegedly told his clients to wire money into his own company’s account instead of CVNMTC.

Cox faces three counts of wire fraud, and six counts of money laundering, causing losses of more than $1 million.

Kashian, through a representative, declined to speak to GV Wire. Richards could not be reached for comment. Current management at CVNMTC also declined to speak.

Lying About Meeting

Cox and developer Terance Frazier formed nonprofit Central Valley Community Sports Foundation to operate sports facilities, including an ice rink in west Fresno and the city of Fresno-owned Granite Park.

Clearinghouse lent the money to CVCSF — a $1.5 million construction loan — with CVNMTC as a guarantor of the loan. The lender required approval of all of CVNMTC’s business partners.

The DOJ also said Cox lied about holding a meeting with his partners, and “submitted to Clearinghouse a false and fabricated board resolution” approving the company’s guarantee of the loan.

Cox faces five wire fraud charges, causing a $1.28 million loss to the lender.

Mortgage Fraud

The DOJ said Cox defrauded mortgage lender Stearns Lending, LLC, applying for a home loan in northwest Fresno, claiming it would be his primary residence.

Real estate records show Cox purchased the home from Rossi, his business partner with CCP. Rossi said he wanted to move to Monterey, and Cox offered to buy the house, and received the loan.

The government said the plan all along was to rent the home to another Cox business partner. Rossi said that partner was Sonya Trevino of CCP.

“Initially he was going to be the owner. So I kind of look at that as being bogus on the government side,” Rossi said. “The intention was not to defraud the bank.”

Rossi felt the charges were “a stretch.”

The government said Cox’s loan application contained several “material misstatements,” including who would live at the house, the true cost of the home, and Cox’s plans for his home on Van Ness Avenue in Fresno.

Cox faces one count of financial institution fraud.

Election Fraud

In the only count relating to Cox’s run for Congress, the government alleged he lent money to family members for the purpose of them contributing that money for his 2018 run for Congress.

“It was part of the scheme and plan to use conduits to knowingly deceive the FEC into believing that Cox lawfully raised significant sums of money for his campaign from private donations, when in truth and in fact, he had not,” the indictment said.

Election analysts told GV Wire that more donors to Cox’s campaign account would make him seem like a viable candidate for office.

Cox faces one count of making a conduit contribution.