PAUL RYAN’S EX-GF Served Prison Time For Wire Fraud

Now we know why Paul Ryan‘s ex-girlfriend was so tight-lipped yesterday when we asked her about the VP hopeful … turns out she was indicted by the Feds back in 1999 and spent months in prison for committing wire fraud … TMZ has learned.

Deneeta D. Pope – who made headlines recently as Ryan’s African-American GF in college — was indicted by a Grand Jury in November 1999 for allegedly swindling her former employer – Ernst & Young – out of $77,000.

Pope pled guilty in 2001 to stealing a lesser amount, but admitted she inflated expense reports, fabricated receipts and turned in phony invoices. She then used a wire transfer to move the money from a bank in Delaware to a different account in Chicago.

Pope created the scam by claiming she attended an educational course for work.  Turns out … the course didn’t even exist.

Pope served 5 months in Federal Prison.

FYI — Ryan dated Pope approximately 10 years before she was indicted. They met at Miami University of Ohio in the early 90′s.