A former high-profile lobbyist is scheduled to plead guilty Friday to accusations of campaign-finance fraud.
A plea agreement hearing for Paul J. Magliocchetti is set to take place in federal court in Alexandria on Friday afternoon.
Magliocchetti, founder and former president of the now-defunct PMA Group, is accused of orchestrating a scheme to make thousands of dollars in illegal campaign donations in order to enhance the firm’s influence.
He was indicted in August. The 11-count indictment alleges that Magliocchetti evaded the Federal Election Campaign Act’s limits on individual campaign contributions and its ban on corporate contributions by using straw donors to make contributions that were paid for by Magliocchetti or PMA.
Prosecutors say Magliocchetti concealed that he and PMA were the true source of the donations, but made sure he and the Arlington-based firm were credited for the contributions by using PMA lobbyists and other associates as the conduits.
Magliocchetti was charged with four counts of illegal conduit campaign contributions, four counts of illegal corporate campaign contributions and three counts of making false statements.
His son, Mark Magliochetti, was charged and pleaded guilty in August to making illegal contributions at his father’s behest. As part of his plea, he agreed to cooperate with investigators.
Mark Magliocchetti is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 16.
Prosecutors say that Paul Magliocchetti directed both family members and neighbors to make the illicit contributions.
The indictment says that he used personal and corporate money to reimburse those conduits for contributions they made on his behalf from 2003 to 2008.
In one instance, Magliocchetti allegedly designated two acquaintances who lived near his Florida vacation home as members of PMA’s board of directors and paid them with PMA funds in exchange for writing checks to candidates. Those people, prosecutors say, never worked as lobbyists or attended PMA board meetings.
The scheme also caused federal campaign committees to unwittingly file false reports with the Federal Election Commission, the indictment says. The reports falsely stated that the conduits had made the contributions, when the donations were actually from Magliocchetti and PMA.
Magliocchetti’s attorney did not return a call for comment on the plea Thursday.
PMA closed last year, a few months after FBI agents raided the firm’s office.
The charges against the Magliocchettis do not accuse any lawmakers of a crime.
