HORRY COUNTY, SC (WBTW) – Thad Viers, a former South Carolina House of Representatives member, will serve more than three years in jail and pay $875,000 in restitution for his involvement in a money laundering case.

Viers pleaded guilty in the money laundering case against him, to one count of knowingly engaging in  a monetary transaction in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000 in April. The former state representative was given a jail sentence of 37 months followed by 3 years supervised release and ordered to pay $875,000 in restitution in the Federal Courthouse in Florence Tuesday afternoon.

In August of 2014, Viers pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he lied to IRS agents and helped a businessman hide assets from an insurance company.

Following his guilty plea in April, Viers released this message on his Twitter account:

Today I pleaded guilty for committing an 18 USC 1957 violation of a value greater than $10,000.00. I am criminally responsible because I was willfully blind, deliberately ignorant, and consciously avoided asking questions that any lawyer would ask. The other 13 charges, including lying to a federal agent, fraud, and conspiracy to commit fraud have been dismissed. I did not profit or realize any money from this violation. I take full responsibility for my actions and offer no excuses. Furthermore, attempting to place blame on my criminal client for his fraudulent and criminal conspiracy to defraud an insurance company is not a defense for my actions. As a lawyer I should have known better, but instead chose to turn a blind eye and inoculate myself from fault. As a man I must take responsibility for my actions and am doing so. Please keep me and my family in your prayers.”

Prosecutors say Viers, 37, helped Marlon Weaver hide assets after the contractor defaulted on a $6 million contract to pave part of Interstate 95. Weaver pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2013. During the course of this conspiracy, Viers either knew the funds involved were proceeds of some criminal activity, or he was aware of a high probability the funds were the proceeds of some criminal activity and he deliberately made himself blind to that fact.

Defense lawyer Pete Strom said Viers did not know what he was doing was wrong. Strom said Viers and other young lawyers do not get enough training on how to handle complex financial matters.

Viers served in the state House representing the Myrtle Beach area from 2003 to 2012.