Tom DeLay taken mug shot on conspiracy charges

Former US House Majority leader Tom DeLay was taken mug shot and fingerprinted in a sheriff 's office in Texas Thursday on conspiracy and money-laundering charges.

It took DeLay some 30 minutes in the sheriff's office in the Harris County, Texas, to complete the above procedure before he was released on a 10,000-US dollar bail.

The procedure is a routine step before the prominent Texan Republican's first court appearance Friday on conspiracy and money laundering charges, said local officials.

DeLay, 58, was forced to resign from the House post last week after a grand jury in Texas issued an indictment accusing him and two political associates of conspiring to violate Texas campaign finance laws.

The charges against the Texas Republican stem from allegations that a DeLay-founded Texas political committee funneled corporate money into state Republican legislative races through the National Republican Party.

It is considered as a felony in Texas because state law prohibits use of corporate money to elect state candidates.

DeLay, who repeatedly denounced the indictment as an " abomination of justice", could face up to life in prison if convicted of money laundering, and up to 20 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The former top lawmaker represented Texas' 22nd congressional district in the suburbs southwest of Houston.

An 11-term congressman, DeLay was admonished last year by the House Ethics Committee on three separate issues.

He was also the center of a political storm earlier this year over foreign trips paid by lobbyists.

Source: Xinhua