MILWAUKEE (AP) – Two North Carolina lawyers have pleaded guilty in federal court in Wisconsin to charges of creating a sham political action committee.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Milwaukee announced Monday that Jack Daly, 51, pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and lying to the Federal Election Commission. Nathanael Pendley, 61, pleaded guilty to the same charges on Monday.
The lawyers formed a political action committee in 2017 that they said was designed to convince former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke to run for the U.S. Senate, according to court documents. The committee raised more than $1.6 million from donors, but most of the money was spent to personally benefit Daly and Pendley rather than to persuade Clarke to run.
The lawyers continued to solicit donations after learning that Clarke had publicly announced she would not run for the Senate and had called the committee a scam.
They also submitted false information to the Federal Election Commission, including a form identifying a committee intern as treasurer, even though Daly and Pendley knew the intern had no responsibilities as treasurer, according to court documents.
The lawyers will be sentenced in September.
