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FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The former campaign manager of U.S. House of Representatives candidate Chris Donovan pleaded guilty to a charge related to campaign finance fraud Friday, U.S. Attorney David Fein said in a press release.
Joshua Nassi, 34, of Fairfield, was the manager of Donovan’s 2012 campaign for Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes Danbury, Waterbury and portions of Litchfield County. At the time Donovan was also a member of the Connecticut General Assembly.
Last spring the state legislature was debating a bill that would change the law for “roll-your-own” cigarette shops, which sell loose tobacco and paper and charge rental fees for cigarette rolling equipment. These shops do not currently pay the same taxes as factory-rolled cigarettes.
Investigators found that owners of roll-your-own shops had used third parties to make contributions to Donovan’s Congressional campaign, Fein says. The shop owners would reimburse people who made donations in order to not have their names listed on Federal Elections Commission records, the release said. A total of $30,000 in contributions were made in this way, Fein said.
The bill in question, Senate Bill 347, was not voted on in either house of the Connecticut General Assembly by the end of the 2012 legislative session. Donovan has denied any knowledge of the incidents. Donovan lost the Democratic primary for the Fifth District seat in August to eventual winner Elizabeth Esty.
Nassi and another man involved in the case, Benjamin Hogan, 33, of Southington, both pleaded guilty to one count of of conspiracy to make false statements to the Federal Election Commission and to impede the agency’s enforcement of federal campaign finance laws. They will be sentenced this July, and face maximum sentences of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Four other men related to the case have also pleaded guilty previously, Fein said. The case is still under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“The Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting those who corrupt our system of government, our campaign finance laws and the electoral process,” Fein said in a press release Friday.
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