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NEW YORK: Conservative Indian-American author and Obama-critic Dinesh D'Souza, who had pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign laws, has been spared a prison term but sentenced to five years of probation, mandatory community service and fined USD 30,000.
D'Souza, 53, of California was sentenced on Tuesday before US District Judge Richard Berman for violating the federal campaign election law by making illegal contributions to a United States Senate campaign in the names of others.
He was sentenced in a Manhattan federal court to five years of probation, with eight months during the first year to be served in a community confinement center.
In addition to the probationary term, Berman sentenced D'Souza to a mandatory eight-hour day of community service every week of his five-year term of probation, weekly counseling sessions and a USD 30,000 fine.
Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said D'Souza attempted to illegally contribute over USD 10,000 to a Senate campaign, "willfully undermining the integrity of the campaign finance process. Like many others before him, of all political stripes, he has had to answer for this crime ?- here with a felony conviction."
Berman had previously denied D'Souza's pre-trial motion to dismiss the indictment for selective prosecution, ruling that there was "no evidence" to support his allegation.
In sentencing D'Souza, Berman referred to his prior ruling and remarked that "the defendant's claim of selective prosecution, legally speaking, is all hat, no cattle'."
D'Souza had earlier this month asked the judge to sentence him to probation and community service instead of a prison term, saying he is "disgraced and humiliated" by his actions and is paying a "heavy price for his lapse of judgment."
The Mumbai-native had pleaded guilty on May 20 of attempting to donate USD 20,000 to a Senate campaign through straw donors.
D'Souza, who is also a best-selling conservative author, had come in for severe criticism for his 2012 documentary "2016: Obama's America", with Barack Obama's campaign accusing him of launching a smear campaign against the President and alleging that the movie was a deliberate distortion of Obama's record and world view.
The documentary had equated re-election of Obama with the death and dismemberment of the US. Bharara had sought a 16 months prison sentence for D'Souza saying that he had committed a "serious" crime that "strikes at the heart" of the US election system.
According to the indictment, D'Souza contributed USD 10,000 to the senate campaign of Republican Wendy Long in 2012 on behalf of himself and his wife, agreeing in writing to attribute that contribution as USD 5,000 from his wife and USD 5,000 from him.
According to the Election Act, campaign contributions from any individual to any one candidate were limted to 5,000 dollars.
In August 2012, he directed straw donors, who included his assistant and a woman with whom he was romantically involved, to make contributions to Long's campaign for the US Senate on behalf of themselves and their spouses that totaled USD 20,000 with the promise that he would reimburse them for the contributions.
Later, D'Souza reimbursed the straw donors in cash for the contributions. When confronted by Long, D'Souza initially misled her before admitting what he had done.
During the plea proceeding, D'Souza admitted before the court that he caused two close associates to contribute USD 10,000 each to the Long Campaign with the understanding that he would reimburse them for their contributions and that he did reimburse them.
D'Souza also admitted that he knew that what he was doing was wrong and something the law forbids. The Election Campaign Act is designed to limit financial influence in the election of candidates for federal office, including the Office of United States Senator.
It specifically prohibits any person from making any contribution in the name of another, including reimbursing a third person.
According to D'Souza's profile on his website, he was formerly a policy analyst in President Ronald Reagan's White House and served as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute as well as at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
He served as the president of The King's College in New York City from 2010 to 2012.
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