Watch CBS News

Former US Congressman Tim Mahoney Charged With DUI

MIAMI (CBS4) - Former U.S. Congressman Tim Mahoney is out of police custody after he was arrested for DUI when police said they found him sleeping in his parked car on a South Florida road early Saturday.

Mahoney, a Democrat who filled former Congressman Mark Foley's seat, was sleeping behind the wheel around 3 a.m. Saturday in Palm Beach Gardens, police said. Fifty-four year-old Mahoney was charged with DUI "based on the investigation and after talking to the driver," Palm Beach Gardens Police Commander William Brandt said.

Mahoney was out of police custody as of 11:15 a.m. Saturday.

No other details were given. Mahoney, a multimillionaire venture capitalist, will be released on his own recognizance, though a jail spokeswoman declined to say when.

A telephone message left for Mahoney was not immediately returned Saturday.

It's the second scandal to rock Mahoney in recent years. The political newcomer who ran on a family values platform lost his re-election bid in 2008 after revealing he'd had several affairs and put one of his lovers on the federal payroll as a congressional staffer. She later became a campaign worker.

He then fired her -- he said for performance issues -- and paid her $121,903 to keep her quiet and avoid a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Mahoney has insisted he broke no laws. His wife later filed for divorce.

Mahoney also acknowledged a 2007 affair with a high-ranking Martin County official in his district around the time he successfully lobbied the Federal Emergency Management Agency to give the county a $3.4 million hurricane cleanup reimbursement.

Florida's 16th District, which spans parts of eight counties from Palm Beach County westward toward the Gulf, has been a magnate for sex scandal in recent years.

Republican Mark Foley resigned from Congress in 2006 amid revelations that he sent lurid Internet messages to male pages who had worked on Capitol Hill as teenagers.

(© 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.