A La Palma man was sentenced Thursday in Sacramento to a year in federal prison for skirting campaign finance laws to get more contributions for his son, now a Northern California Democratic congressman.
Babulal Bera, 83, made the maximum individual contributions to his son’s 2010 and 2012 campaigns, then got friends, relatives and others to also donate and illegally reimbursed them, according to federal prosecutors.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, about 130 improper campaign contributions worth about $260,000 from 90 people were made as a result of Bera’s actions.
His son, Ami, lost his 2010 race for a Sacramento-area congressional seat, but defeated Republican Dan Lungren in their second match-up two years later.
–City News Service