FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - On a day scheduled initially to set a trial date for former Central Valley Congressman TJ Cox, Cox and his attorney Mark Coleman instead walked into Downtown Fresno's Robert E. Coyle Federal Courthouse to announce a plea deal had been reached with federal prosecutors.  "Mr. Cox wanted to get this over this. He wanted it to get behind him. It's very stressful for him. It's very stressful for his family and he wanted to get it behind him," said Coleman. Cox was arrested in 2022, as federal authorities charged him with 28 felonies. 15 were for wire fraud and 11 for money laundering, with one count for financial institution fraud and another for campaign contribution fraud. He had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges. "All of the counts were dismissed except for two," he said. Coleman was also asked what the penalty might be for the remaining unspecified fraud charges. He said, "The maximum is 20 years and the minimum is probation. That's the range." Cox, the former Democratic congressman who represented what used to be California's 21st Congressional District prior to redistricting, was previously charged in relation to allegations of fraud regarding four separate ventures. Ventures, according to court documents, include his 2018 congressional campaign and his involvement as a partner in the troubled Fresno sports complex Granite Park. A sports complex authorities had claimed Cox fraudulently obtained a $1.5 million construction loan. "The facts of the case, any time you're in business there are literally thousands of transactions and people sometimes make shortcuts and it's something he had to deal with," said Coleman. Cox will be returning to the federal courthouse to change his plea on Jan. 27. Sentencing will likely take much longer. Coleman says that could be four to five months.