Ex-HUD official guilty in campaign scheme

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WASHINGTON, May 27 (UPI) -- Jerry Pierce-Santos, a Washington lobbyist and former member of the George W. Bush administration, admitted Wednesday he raised campaign funds illegally.

Pierce-Santos, 50, of Vienna, Va., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington to one count accusing him of funneling $17,000 in contributions to an unnamed candidate for federal office in 2003. Court documents showed Pierce-Santos made the contributions through 10 other individuals.

Pierce-Santos , a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and president of the Washington lobbying firm Interamerica Inc., could be sentenced to up to two years in prison, three years supervised release following his incarceration and a statute-mandated $50,000 fine.

The Washington Examiner reported in January that Pierce-Santos represented Nigeria's vice president, who was accused of receiving a $90,000 bribe from former Rep. William Jefferson, D-La.

Pierce-Santos also served on President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney's Transition Advisory Committee, the Bush-Cheney 2004 National Finance Committee and was national finance co-chairman of the Republican National Committee, the newspaper said.