A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions of former state insurance regulator Joe Ruiz on corruption charges. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Ruiz’s convictions of extortion, mail fraud, wire fraud and corruption solicitation on Dec. 29. 
Ruiz was convicted in 2008 of soliciting charitable donations from insurance companies in exchange for reducing regulatory fines. Ruiz directed companies to make payments to a nonprofit health foundation or an arts group that bought a bilingual children’s book he had written. Ruiz earned royalties from the books.
The health foundation was formed by former State Insurance Superintendent Eric Serna, who had recruited Ruiz for his regulatory job. Ruiz was sentenced to 4 years in prison.