Robert Maxwell McCord (born March 5, 1959) is an American former politician and convicted felon. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he served as the

Treasurer of Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania State Treasurer is the head of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, an independent department of state government. The state treasurer is elected every four years. Treasurers are limited to two consecutive terms. The Pennsylva ...

from 2009 to 2015. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for

Governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in the 2014 election. In January 2015 he announced his resignation as Treasurer of Pennsylvania. On February 17, 2015, McCord pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion.

Early life and education

McCord was born in California to William Maxwell McCord (1930-1992) and Joan Fish McCord (1930-2004), both of whom worked at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. His older brother is

Geoffrey Sayre-McCord Geoffrey Sayre-McCord (né McCord, born December 10, 1956) is an Americans, American philosopher who works in moral theory, ethics, meta-ethics, the history of ethics, and epistemology. He teaches at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ...

, a professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His father, a sociologist, and his mother, a criminologist, separated when McCord was 4 years old. When he was 10, McCord moved to Ardmore, Pennsylvania and later attended Lower Merion High School. After graduating from Lower Merion High, McCord took a year off and then went to Harvard College. At Harvard he did one year abroad and went to Trinity College in Ireland and (back at Harvard) met Leigh Alexandra Jackson, his future wife. McCord also obtained an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania before he moved to Washington, D.C. McCord traveled back to Pennsylvania and set up home in Narberth, less than a mile from Ardmore. After having two children, the McCord family ventured to Bryn Mawr. McCord moved to North Carolina to become a yoga instructor. He lived in

Long Branch, New Jersey Long Branch is a beachside City (New Jersey), city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 30,719,< ...

prior to his arrest and conviction.

Career

From 1994 through 1998 McCord was a senior executive at Safeguard Scientifics. McCord founded and from 1998 to 2007 ran the Eastern Technology Council. McCord was elected the

in 2008. He, his wife, and their sons Jackson and Grant lived in Bryn Mawr. In 2014, McCord ran for

in the Democrat primary. He finished third in the May 20 primary, however, behind nominee Tom Wolf and U.S. Representative

Allyson Schwartz Allyson Schwartz (née Young; born October 3, 1948) is an American Democratic Party politician who represented parts of Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2015 and Northeast and ...

Federal trial and conviction

On January 29, 2015, McCord announced his resignation, effective February 12. The next day, he announced his resignation effective immediately and said he intended to plead guilty to federal charges of extortion relating to campaign fundraising. On February 2, 2015, McCord was formally charged, and on February 17, 2015, he pled guilty to two counts of extortion. After being made aware that he was being investigated but before he resigned, McCord cooperated as an informant on political donors. McCord's case was delayed after he pled guilty, possibly to assess the usefulness of his cooperation. On August 28, 2018, McCord was sentenced to 30 months in prison by Judge John E. Jones III.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:McCord, Robert 1959 births American venture capitalists Harvard College alumni Living people Pennsylvania Democrats Pennsylvania politicians convicted of crimes People from Ardmore, Pennsylvania Politicians convicted of extortion under color of official right State treasurers of Pennsylvania 2012 United States presidential electors Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni Lower Merion High School alumni