Giuliani Associate Convicted of Campaign Finance Crimes

He allegedly used money from a Russian financier to launch a recreational marijuana business.

Lev Parnas leaves federal court in New York, Oct. 22, 2021.
Lev Parnas leaves federal court in New York, Oct. 22, 2021.
AP Photo/Richard Drew

NEW YORK (AP) โ€” A Florida businessman who helped Rudy Giulianiโ€™s effort to dig up dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine was convicted Friday of campaign finance crimes, including funneling a Russian entrepreneur's money to U.S. politicians.

Lev Parnas was on trial for more than two weeks as prosecutors accused him of using other peopleโ€™s money to pose as a powerful political broker and cozy up to some of the nationโ€™s star Republicans.

One part of the case alleged that Parnas and an associate made illegal donations through a corporate entity in 2018 as they tried to jump-start a new energy company, including a $325,000 donation to America First Action, a super PAC supporting former President Donald Trump.

Another part said he used the wealth of a Russian financier, Andrey Muraviev, to donate to Republicans in Nevada, Florida and other states, ostensibly in support of an effort to launch a legal, recreational marijuana business.

Parnas, 49, was convicted on all six counts after about five hours of jury deliberations.

The Soviet-born businessman had insisted through his lawyer that he never used the Russianโ€™s money for political donations. He briefly closed his eyes and shook his head as the verdict was read.

โ€œIโ€™ve never hid from nobody. Iโ€™ve always stood to tell the truth,โ€ Parnas said as he emerged from the courtroom. His lawyer, Joseph Bondy, promised an appeal Parnas said it was โ€œnot the end of the story.โ€

โ€œIโ€™m sad. But at this time, I just want to get home to my wife and kids," he said.

A co-defendant, Ukraine-born investor Andrey Kukushkin, was convicted of being part of the effort to use Muravievโ€™s money for political contributions. He had also denied any wrongdoing. Kukushkin and his attorney left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.

The case had drawn interest because of the deep involvement of Parnas and a former co-defendant, Igor Fruman, in Giulianiโ€™s efforts to get Ukrainian officials to investigate Joe Bidenโ€™s son during Bidenโ€™s campaign for president.

Giuliani remains under criminal investigation as authorities decide whether his interactions with Ukraine officials required him to register as a foreign agent, but he wasnโ€™t alleged to have been involved in illegal campaign contributions and wasnโ€™t part of the New York trial.

The case did, though, give an up-close look at how Parnas entered Republican circles in 2018 with a pattern of campaign donations big enough to get him meetings with the partyโ€™s stars.

โ€œIn order to gain influence with American politicians and candidates, they illegally funneled foreign money into the 2018 midterm elections with an eye toward making huge profits in the cannabis business," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement following the verdict. โ€œCampaign finance laws are designed to protect the integrity of our free and fair elections โ€“ unencumbered by foreign interests or influence โ€“ and safeguarding those laws is essential to preserving the freedoms that Americans hold sacred.โ€

In addition to the $325,000 donation to America First Action, prosecutors said Parnas and Fruman orchestrated donations to U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, of Texas, and to other committees supporting House Republicans.

Giuliani and Trump were sparsely mentioned during the trial, although a photograph featuring Parnas with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, was one of the first exhibits shown to jurors during closing arguments.

DeSantis was among those who received campaign contributions that prosecutors said were traced to $1 million that Parnas and Fruman received from Muraviev, who has been involved in several U.S. cannabis ventures.

About $100,000 of Muravievโ€™s money went toward campaign contributions in what Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten called a conspiracy to secretly bring his โ€œwealth and corruption into American politicsโ€ in violation of laws barring foreign donations to U.S. political candidates.

โ€œThe voters would never know whose money was pouring into our elections,โ€ Scotten said.

Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, now a candidate for U.S. Senate, testified during the trial that a blustering Parnas suggested he could raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for him in 2018. He eventually came through only with a $10,000 check that Laxaltโ€™s lawyers told him to reject.

Bondy, representing Parnas, had called the allegations against his client โ€œabsurd.โ€

He insisted in his closing argument that Muravievโ€™s money went toward supporting legal marijuana businesses looking to expand. Muraviev was not charged in the case.

Kukushkinโ€™s lawyer, Gerald Lefcourt, sought to portray his client as an unknowing dupe who was mocked behind his back by other participants as mentally challenged.

Following the verdict, prosecutors asked for immediate incarceration of Parnas and Kukushkin, citing a risk of flight, but the judge allowed them to remain free on bail while awaiting sentencing.

The charges against Parnas collectively carry the potential for decades behind bars, but any prison sentence would likely be measured in years, rather than decades.

Fruman pleaded guilty earlier this year to a single count of solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national. He awaits sentencing.

Another co-defendant, David Correia, also pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to a year in prison for crimes including defrauding investors in an insurance company that had paid Giuliani a $500,000 consulting fee.

Parnas awaits a second trial in connection with that scheme.

Giuliani barely factored in the trial, though a video of him with Parnas was among exhibits jurors could view during deliberations.

The former New York mayor insisted he knew nothing about potentially illegal campaign contributions and has said everything he did in Ukraine was done on Trumpโ€™s behalf and there is no reason he would have had to register as a foreign agent.

Giulianiโ€™s company and attorney didnโ€™t immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the verdict.

More in News