A former Republican political operative convicted in the first federal criminal case of illegal coordination between a campaign and a purportedly independent ally was sentenced Friday to two years in prison — a lighter punishment than prosecutors sought but one that still served as a sharp warning.As I have reported, the government continues to investigate Ron Paul Inc. activities during the 2012 presidential campaign, including the breaking of Federal Election Campaign laws by Ron Paul Inc. operatives who made undisclosed, under the table payments to induce Kent Sorenson to switch from the Michelle Bachmann campaign to the Ron Paul campaign.
Under questioning from U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady, Tyler Harber said: “I’m guilty of this. I knew it was wrong when I did it.” But Harber said he was not motivated by greed or a lust for power — he simply wanted to win an election and believed that what he was doing was a common, if illegal, practice.
“I got caught up in what politics has become,” said Harber, 34, a resident of Alexandria...
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell said that political operatives should “think twice about circumventing laws that promote transparency in federal elections” and encouraged party and campaign insiders to act as whistleblowers. In court, federal prosecutor Richard Pilger asked O’Grady to send Harber to prison for three years and 10 months, saying such a term would send a message to the campaign world that “how you win matters.”
Sorenson, who has plead guilty to receiving he payments, was scheduled to be sentenced in February but the sentencing was postponed because the Department of Justice told the judge that Sorenson is cooperating "in a larger investigation,"
The investigation continues to be on-going in a number of directions and appears to be focused on more than one Ron Paul Inc. operative.
-RW
UPDATE:
An August 2014 Department of Justice press release stated that Pilger was heading the Sorenson prosecution.
No comments:
Post a Comment