Lev Parnas, who worked with former President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, is set to be sentenced on Wednesday for six charges related to campaign finance violations.
Parnas, 50, a Ukrainian-born businessman, was convicted last October of an “influence buying” scheme seeking money from Russian backers to donate to U.S. candidates to help secure licenses to operate cannabis businesses.
FORMER GIULIANI ASSOCIATE LEV PARNAS PLEADS GUILTY IN WIRE FRAUD SCHEME
A federal jury in Manhattan also found that he was guilty of lying to the Federal Election Commission about the true source of a $325,000 donation in 2018 that was channeled to a joint fundraising committee supporting Trump’s presidential campaign.
Prosecutors are seeking six to eight years in prison, arguing that Parnas “put himself above his country,” as reported by Reuters.
Parnas’s defense attorneys have argued for leniency, citing his cooperation with the House impeachment inquiry into Trump in 2019. Parnas worked with Giuliani to dig up political dirt on then-candidate Joe Biden’s family dealings in Ukraine.
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Parnas is also awaiting sentencing in another case after pleading guilty to charges related to deceiving investors about his “Fraud Guarantee” insurance company. Prosecutors argued that Parnas and his associate David Correia procured over $2 million for the sham company and used much of the money for personal and political use.
