Conservative author Dinesh D’Souza ’83 pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud on Tuesday, acknowledging that he made illegal contributions through other donors. His trial was set to begin the same day in a Manhattan federal court, Reuters reported.
He pleaded guilty to one criminal count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. He was also charged with making false statements, a count that is expected to be dismissed once he is sentenced on Sept. 23.
D’Souza, 53, could face between 10 and 16 months in prison and may be fined up to $250,000.
He was indicted in January for reimbursing $20,000 to friends who donated to the U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Wendy Long ’82.
D’Souza donated the maximum $5,000 to Long’s campaign, as did his then-wife Dixie D’Souza, Federal Election Commission records show. The couple donated their $10,000 on a single day, March 16, 2012.
“I knew that causing a campaign contribution to be made in the name of another was wrong and something the law forbids,” D’Souza told the court, New York Daily News reported.
