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Major Hillary Clinton Supporter Jailed

Hillary Clinton / AP

A major Hillary Clinton supporter was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison on Friday for illegally funneling nearly $200,000 into Clinton’s Senate and White House campaigns, the Associated Press reported.

William Danielczyk, a northern Virginia resident, pleaded guilty to violations of federal campaign finance laws. He admitted to illegally reimbursing employees of his company, Galen Capital, for contributions to Clinton’s campaigns.

According to prosecutors, Danielczyk hoped to secure an ambassadorship or other favorable treatment under a Clinton presidency.

He was sentenced to 28 months in prision.

In imposing his sentence, U.S. District Judge James Cacheris compared Danielczyk's case to defense lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti, who received 27 months for illegally funneling more than $380,000 to House members controlling the Pentagon's budget.

Arguing for a lighter sentence, defense lawyer Abbe Lowell said Danielczyk's case differed from more serious violations in part because Danielczyk did not seek any special favors in exchange for his fundraising efforts.

But prosecutor Eric Gibson disputed that, citing grand jury testimony that Danielczyk had told others he hoped to land an ambassadorship and saw fundraising as a means to achieve it. […]

The scheme was first exposed more than five years ago by The Wall Street Journal. At the time, Danielczyk lied and said he had not reimbursed people for making contributions. Prosecutor Eric Gibson said the lies to the media were just a small part of Danielczyk's efforts to hide his scheme, including falsely describing reimbursements to his straw donors as bonuses and "consulting fees" and swapping out a laptop computer with incriminating evidence that he was obliged to turn over to the FBI.