An associate of former President Donald Trump‘s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani asked a judge to let him change his plea to guilty on a conspiracy charge that could put him behind bars for at least a year.
Lev Parnas, a Ukraine-born businessman, pleaded not guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in November. Parnas and his co-defendant, David Correia, were accused of conning investors into giving more than $2 million to an oddly named insurance business, Fraud Guarantee. Prosecutors say Parnas and Correia funneled most of those funds to themselves for personal and political use.
At least $500,000 was used to pay Giuliani, who has not been accused of any crime in the Fraud Guarantee case. Parnas asked Giuliani to work as a consultant for Fraud Guarantee and then touted his involvement when courting investors, prosecutors said.
Correia pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge in February 2021 and was sentenced to a year in prison.
GIULIANI ASSOCIATE LEV PARNAS FOUND GUILTY ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE CHARGES
Parnas and Giuliani worked together in 2019 in an effort to discredit the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and dig up dirt on Hunter Biden, who was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. The pair attempted to reach out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to get him to announce an investigation into Biden.
Trump was impeached for his own effort to pressure Zelensky into announcing an investigation, threatening to withhold congressionally appropriated funds unless he did so. Prior to Trump’s impeachment, Parnas had broken ties with Giuliani and provided evidence against the president in his impeachment trial.
A jury also found Parnas guilty on campaign finance charges in October.
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The Fraud Guarantee charges were separate from, but related to, the campaign finance charges that involved Parnas and other associates channeling money associated with a cannabis business to politicians in the 2018 midterm elections.
No sentencing date has been set for Parnas.
