NEW YORK, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Dinesh D'Souza, former president of The King's College in New York, has been indicted on charges of illegal campaign contributions, federal prosecutors said.
D'Souza, a prominent conservative author and commentator, is charged with one count of causing illegal campaign contributions to be made to a U.S. Senate candidate, whose name was not disclosed. He also is charged with one count of causing false statements to be made to the Federal Elections Commission.
"In August 2012, D'Souza directed other individuals with whom he was associated to make contributions to the campaign committee for a candidate for the United States Senate (the "Campaign Committee") that totaled $20,000," prosecutors said. "D'Souza then reimbursed those individuals for the contributions. By directing the illegal contributions to be made, D'Souza also caused the Campaign Committee to falsely report to the FEC the sources and amounts of those contributions to the campaign."
At the time of the alleged illegal contributions, the Federal Election Campaign Act limited individual contributions to federal election candidates or campaigns to $2,500 for a primary and $2,500 for a general election campaign, a total of $5,000.
D'Souza, 52, of San Diego, is to be arraigned Friday in federal court in New York.
The illegal contribution charge is punishable by as much as two years in prison. The false statement charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
D'Souza -- writer, director and star of the documentary "2016: Obama's America," based on his 2010 book "The Roots of Obama's Rage" -- resigned as president of The King's College in October 2012 after admitting he traveled with a woman who was not his wife, although he denied an extramarital relationship.
