Scholar Dinesh D'Souza Sentenced In Campaign Donations Case
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A conservative scholar and filmmaker who pleaded guilty in New York federal court last May to making illegal campaign contributions was sentenced Tuesday.
Dinesh D'Souza was sentenced to five years of probation at a halfway house in San Diego, Calif., and ordered him to get therapeutic counseling.
The scholar admitted to getting two close associates to make $10,000 contributions to Wendy Long.
A prosecutor said it was done with the understanding that he would reimburse them for their contributions, which he did soon afterward.
D'Souza, who made the anti-President Barack Obama documentary "2016: Obama's America," said he knew what he did was wrong and illegal and that he deeply regrets it.
As WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported, D'Souza claimed he was unfairly prosecuted because of his anti-Obama views, his writings and his documentary.
Long was a Republican candidate who lost the New York Senate race in 2012 to Democrat incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
She was prepared to testify against D'Souza regarding the contributions, a prosecutor said. She had told federal investigators that D'Souza lied to her about the source of donations made to her campaign, a prosecutor had said in January.
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