Chris Collins' guilty plea is reportedly an attempt to protect his son

Former Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) has pleaded guilty to insider trading charges that could land him in prison for up to 10 years.

A federal judge on Monday scheduled a plea change hearing for the indicted congressman, and soon after, Collins resigned from the House. Collins then pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and making false statements on Tuesday in an apparent attempt to protect his also-indicted son from harsher legal consequences, The Buffalo News reports.

Collins, a strong supporter of President Trump from a heavily red district, was indicted more than a year ago for insider trading. Collins was on the board of an Australian biotech firm and was accused of telling his 26-year-old son, Cameron Collins, and Cameron's soon-to-be father-in-law, Stephen Zarsky, to trade their investments in the company investments before it announced that its key drug had failed clinical trials. Cameron Collins and Zarsky are slated to plead guilty to similar charges on Thursday.

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In his Tuesday hearing, Collins said he regretted "putting [Cameron Collins] in this jeopardy at this young age," CNN reports. And as a person with "longtime ties" to Collins tells The Buffalo News, agreeing to plead guilty at all was Collins' attempt to "protect Cameron." While Collins could argue that some of his indictment violated congressional protections under the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, Cameron Collins wouldn't get the same treatment. So he's reportedly hoping that his proactive plea will soften Cameron Collins' legal load.

Collins' congressional seat is now empty, but New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Tuesday he'd like to hold a special election for the seat "sooner rather than later."