The founder and president of the defense lobbying shop PMA Group pleaded guilty today in federal district court in Alexandria to making hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions, the Justice Department said.
Paul Magliocchetti was indicted on charges that included making false statements and making illegal campaign contributions. Magliocchetti, a former aide to the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), focused on defense lobbying. PMA Group dissolved last year following an FBI raid.
Prosecutors said Magliocchetti admitted he used family members, friends and PMA lobbyists to make unlawful contributions between 2005 and 2008. Click here for a Justice Department synopsis of the case. Magliocchetti is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 17. The three charges to which he pleaded guilty each carry a maximum five years in prison.
“For years, Mr. Magliocchetti, by using conduit contributors, hid the fact that he and his company were donating significant funds to campaigns in violation of the federal election laws,” Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said in a statement. “This case is an important reminder to all who seek to evade the federal campaign finance laws that they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
An attorney for Magliocchetti, William Lawler III, a Vinson & Elkins partner in Washington, was not immediately reached for comment this afternoon. The DOJ Public Integrity Section is handling the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lytle of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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