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| Photo Credit: AP. |
A close associate of Rudy Giuliani who interacted closely with Ukrainian officials has been sentenced to 20 months in prison. Lev Parnas who gave testimonies during former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment investigation will spend one year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes, The Associated Press reports.
The 50-year-old
Parnas had prayed the court for leniency based on his cooperation with the
Congressional probe of Trump and his efforts to get Ukrainian leaders to
investigate President Joe Biden’s son.
Announcing the
sentence U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken ordered Panas to pay $2.3 million
in restitution. Prosecutors had sought six years in prison for the Soviet born businessman
who is also facing criminal charges.
The various
schemes Parnas deployed to get money that prosecutors claim say fueled a lavish
lifestyle led Oetken to say that for Parnas, fraud “was essentially a way of
life, a way of doing business,” according to The Associated Press.
Parnas apologized
to victims who had lost money investing in his business ventures.
“A lot that
you heard is true, your honor. I have not been a good person my whole life.
I’ve made mistakes. And I admit it,” Parnas said, according to The Associated
Press. “I want to apologize to all the victims that I hurt. These are all
people who are my friends, all people who trusted me, and I lied to them to
further my personal agenda.”
Parnas was a
Ukraine fixer for Giuliani who used his position as New York City mayor to
lobby Ukrainian officials to investigate Biden’s son, Hunter.
Panas had
made illegal donations to a number of U.S politicians using the riches of a
wealthy Russian to jump-start a legal recreational marijuana business,
according to the website.
Parnas
pleaded guilty in March to a wire fraud conspiracy, admitting that he and a partner
had given investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud
Guarantee that promised it could protect people against fraud.
According to
The Associated Press, the new company hired Giuliani as a consultant at a time
when some Ukrainian figures were trying to get favor with the Trump
administration, and agreed to pay him $500,000.
His boss
Giuliani was working at the time as a personal lawyer for Trump. He said he
knew nothing about the crimes of Parnas and others.
Parnas also
arranged big donations to Republican politicians, including a $325,000 donation
to a political action committee supporting Trump.