Pleaded guilty for fraudulently funding his son’s election campaign.
83-year-old, Babulal Bob Bera, father of Congressman Amerish Ami Bera, was sentenced to year and a day in prison by a US federal judge for fraudulently funding his son’s election campaigns.
Babulal Bera admitted in May before judge Troy L. Nunley that he was guilty of election funding fraud and this guilty plea avoided a lengthy trail.
Bora also admitted that he had funnelled $268,726 in illegal contributions to his son’s election campaigns in 2009 and 2011. To circumvent the legal contribution limits, he had 90 people send in the money in smaller amounts in their names and then reimbursed them for what they gave.
The other participants in the fraud have not been charged or identified by the prosecutors. Prosecutors have cleared Ami Bera of any involvement in the fraud.
Ami Bera, the only Indian American in the US Congress, earlier said that the fraud was carried out by his father without his knowledge.
“The defendant’s efforts were calculated. This is more than just a naive person who doesn’t know how elections work,” The Los Angeles Times quoted the judge as he imposed the sentence.
As per The Sacramento Bee, the judge set aside the recommendation of a probation officer not to give Babulal Bera a prison sentence because of his age and health but only fine him $30,200.
The judge also fined Babulal Bera $100,000 and ordered three years of restrictions after his release.
Probation officials suggest punishments after studying the background of the convicted person and their circumstances.
Assistant US Attorney Philip Ferrari demanded some prison time for Mr. Bera citing “the serious nature” of his offence and argued that Bera did not deserve leniency.
Before the sentencing, Babulal Bera asked the court to consider an option for him to stay with his 82-year-old wife, CBS Sacramento reported.
“I know I cannot survive without her and she will not survive without me,” he told the judge.
“My father has accepted what he did was wrong, he’s taken responsibility, and I love him more than words can express. I’m absolutely devastated and heartbroken for how today’s decision will impact our entire family, ” CBS Sacramento quoted Ami Bera after his father’s sentencing.
The 51-year-old California Democrat Congressmen is running against the influential local Republican Sheriff Scott Jones. In the 2014 election he narrowly defeated his then Republican rival, Doug Ose, by just 1,455 votes, a margin of less than one percent.