Former Tenn. lawmaker sentenced to 21 months for campaign finance violations

Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Former Tennessee Republican State Sen. Brian Kelsey has been sentenced to 21 months in prison over campaign finance law violations, justice department officials say.

Kelsey, 45, received the sentence from U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Nashville on Friday after initially pleading guilty to two felonies last year but then trying to reverse his guilty plea in May, the Department of Justice announced.

Prosecutors said Kelsey and his accomplices tried to hide the transfer of $91,000 -- including $66,000 from his official campaign committee and $25,000 from a legal advocacy nonprofit -- to a "national political organization" promoting Kelsey's 2016 primary campaign.

"To carry out the scheme, Kelsey conspired with others, including Joshua Smith, who owned a members-only social club in Nashville of which Kelsey was a member and controlled a Tennessee political action committee affiliated with the club," they said.

Officials said the Justice Department would continue to investigate campaign finance violations.

"The integrity of our elections is essential to democracy, and voters should know how candidates raise and spend campaign dollars," said U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Henry Leventis. "The department will continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners to uncover and prosecute campaign finance schemes designed to evade disclosure, and to ensure that violations of these laws carry a high cost."

"I am sorry for letting down my constituents and the public," Kelsey said in a statement after being sentenced, according to The Tennessean.

After serving his sentence, Kelsey will have three years of supervised release.

Smith, Kelsey's co-conspirator, was sentenced to five years of probation for aiding and abetting Kelsey's actions on Friday.