A Tennessee state senator pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of conspiracy to defraud the FEC and violating federal campaign laws. He faces up to 10 years imprisonment when sentenced June 9, 2023.
Tennessee State Sen. Brian Kelsey, 44, admitted he conspired to secretly funnel money to his authorized federal campaign committee. Kelsey, a practicing attorney, also caused a national political organization to make excessive contributions to his federal campaign committee, according to a Justice Department statement.
The Conservative Brief further reported:
“Kelsey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the FEC and aiding and abetting the acceptance of excessive contributions on behalf of a federal campaign. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count. The former senator appeared in court Tuesday for a change of plea hearing in his federal campaign finance case,” MSN reported.
“Last month, Kelsey filed a motion to have the change of plea hearing almost one year after he and Nashville social club owner Joshua Smith were indicted by a federal grand jury as part of an alleged campaign finance scheme. Both men are accused of violating election rules by funneling money from a state campaign to a federal campaign while Kelsey made a bid for congress in 2016,” the outlet added.
He faces up to five years in federal prison on each count. Kelsey initially pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in November 2021, calling the charges against him a “political witch hunt.”
The DOJ said in a press release:
According to court documents, Kelsey, 44, of Germantown, admitted that he conspired to, and did, secretly and unlawfully funnel money from multiple sources, including his own Tennessee State Senate campaign committee, to his authorized federal campaign committee. Kelsey, who was a practicing attorney, and his co-conspirators, including Joshua Smith, also caused a national political organization to make illegal and excessive contributions to Kelsey’s federal campaign committee by secretly coordinating with the organization on advertisements supporting Kelsey’s federal candidacy, which caused false reports of contributions and expenditures to be filed with the FEC.
Kelsey and his co-conspirators orchestrated the concealed movement of $91,000 – $66,000 of which came from Kelsey’s State Senate campaign committee, and $25,000 of which came from a nonprofit corporation that publicly advocated on legal justice issues – to a national political organization for the purpose of funding advertisements that urged voters to support Kelsey in the August 2016 primary election. Kelsey and his co-conspirators also caused the political organization to make $80,000 worth of contributions to Kelsey’s federal campaign committee in the form of coordinated expenditures.
“Kelsey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the FEC and aiding and abetting the acceptance of excessive contributions on behalf of a federal campaign. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors,” the DOJ press release stated.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
