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U.S. Rep. Collins, an HHS graduate, resigns ahead of planned guilty plea

U.S. Rep. Chris Collins is a 1968 graduate of Hendersonville High School.

By Lightning Reports, Published: September 30, 2019

U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, a 1968 graduate of Hendersonville High School and 2013 HHS Hall of Fame inductee, resigned on Monday ahead of his expected to plead guilty in federal court Tuesday to insider trading charges.

Collins was indicted 14 months ago on insider trading charges rising from the sale of pharmaceutical stock before the product's failed drug test became public. Prosecutors accused him of passing a confidential tip to his son, Cameron Collins, so he could sell shares of an Australian biotechnology company before the public disclosure of a failed drug trial, the Wall Street Journal reported. Multiple media outlets on Monday reported his expected guilty plea.

Born in Schenectady, New York, in 1950, Collins came to Hendersonville with his family when his father was transferred to General Electric's East Flat Rock plant. After graduating from HHS, he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University. He earned an MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1975, according to Wikipedia. Collins made his money buying bankrupt and troubled companies.

After serving as county executive of Erie County, New York, from 2007 to 2011, Collins won his congressional seat representing a Buffalo-area district in 2013 and later became one of the first sitting congressmen to endorse Donald Trump. Despite the indictment he won a fourth term to the seat last November.