Fraudulent Scheme To Deceive Voters Results in $84,000 in Civil Penalties
| For Immediate Release April 22, 2004 |
Contact: | George Smaragdis Bob Biersack Ian Stirton Kelly Huff |
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| FRAUDULENT SCHEME TO DECEIVE VOTERS RESULTS IN $84,000 IN CIVIL PENALTIES |
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WASHINGTON -- The FEC has entered into conciliation agreements with Adrian
Plesha and Charles Ball for Congress resulting from their fraudulent
misrepresentation of their opponent’s party and a Congressman from a
neighboring district in mailings and phone calls during the 1998 campaign.
The Commission found probable cause to believe that Plesha and the committee
had knowingly and willfully violated the Federal Election Campaign Act (the
Act). Adrian Plesha will pay a $60,000 civil penalty and Charles Ball for
Congress will pay $24,000.
Shortly before the 1998 general election, Ball for Congress, acting through its campaign manager Adrian Plesha, covertly arranged and financed the dissemination of approximately 40,000 letters and 10,000 phone calls that urged registered Democrats not to vote for Representative Ellen Tauscher. The letters and phone calls came from the "East Bay Democratic Committee," a fictitious organization created by Adrian Plesha and Ball for Congress. The letters contained a false address and falsely used neighboring Democratic Congressman George Miller''''s name as the signatory. Plesha knowingly made false statements to the FEC, denying involvement in or knowledge of this scheme when in fact he had created, authorized and distributed the fabricated letters and calls. To avoid being identified as the true sponsor of the communications, Ball for Congress and Adrian Plesha omitted the required disclaimers, created phony invoices, used stamps rather than the committee’s postal meter and asked vendors to hide any links between the communications and Ball for Congress. The Act prohibits Federal candidates or their agents from fraudulently misrepresenting any committee under their control as speaking or writing on behalf of any other candidate or political party on a matter that is damaging to that other candidate or party. Additionally, the law requires any person who expressly advocates the election or defeat of a federal candidate through a mass mailing to include a disclaimer stating who paid for and authorized the mailing. The FEC also referred Mr. Plesha to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. Mr. Plesha pled guilty to making false statements to the FEC and was sentenced to three years of probation, a $5,000 fine and 160 hours of community service.
*There are four administrative stages to the FEC enforcement process:
It requires the votes of at least four of the six Commissioners to take any action. The FEC can close a case at any point after reviewing a complaint. If a violation is found and conciliation cannot be reached, then the FEC can institute a civil court action against a respondent. |
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