March 4, 2024 - A Pennsylvania man pled guilty on Thursday, February 29, 2024, to filing documents with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that contained false and fictitious information about a political action committee, or Super PAC, and credit card fraud.

According to court documents, in March 2020, Christopher Richardson, 37, of Langhorne, created an independent, expenditure-only Super PAC named Americans for Progressive Action USA (AFPA) that used fictitious names for AFPA’s treasurer and designated agent. Richardson then filed a falsified quarterly report with the FEC claiming that AFPA had raised $4.8 million from several fictitious individuals. Several weeks later, he filed a report of expenditures that falsely claimed that the Super PAC spent over $1.5 million to purchase advertisements and media production opposing certain candidates for the U.S. Senate. Richardson filed another FEC report that falsely stated that AFPA refunded the non-existent $4.8 million in donations. 

Richardson also used the alias of one of the fictitious donors to AFPA to obtain a credit card, and then used that card to conduct approximately 200 transactions.

Richardson pleaded guilty to one count of making a false entry in a record and one count of access device fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 13. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the false entry count and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the access device fraud count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia, Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Scott Moffit of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s (TIGTA) Cybercrime Investigations Division made the announcement.

The FBI Washington Field Office and TIGTA Cybercrime Investigations Division investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Ryan R. Crosswell of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Gold for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Ahmed Baset for the District of Columbia.

Source: DOJ Release