Jessie R. Benton, Campaign Finance Conspiracy, Texas 2023
A Texas political consultant has been convicted of orchestrating a scheme to funnel illegal foreign campaign contributions to a 2016 presidential campaign.
Jessie R. Benton, 45, of The Woodlands, Texas, was found guilty of conspiring to solicit and cause an illegal campaign contribution by a foreign national, effecting a conduit contribution, and causing false records to be filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Benton schemed with another political advisor to funnel political contributions to the presidential campaign from a Russian foreign national.
The Russian foreign national, who was seeking to support, meet, and take a picture with the presidential candidate, wired $100,000 to Benton's political consulting firm for purposes of making an illegal foreign contribution to the campaign.
Benton created a fake invoice, which falsely identified the funds as payment for consulting services. He acted as a straw donor and contributed $25,000 of the Russian foreign national's money to the campaign, falsely identifying himself as the contributor, and pocketed the remaining $75,000.
Benton's actions enabled the campaign to unwittingly file reports with the FEC that inaccurately reported him as the source of the funds, rather than the Russian foreign national.
Benton is scheduled to be sentenced on February 17, 2023, and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the top count.
The FBI San Diego Field Office investigated the case, and trial attorneys Rebecca G. Ross and Michelle K. Parikh of the Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle L. Wasserman, prosecuted the case.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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