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A top partner from the Fort Lauderdale law firm of Scott Rothstein, Russell Adler, was charged with breaking federal election laws on Friday, according to The Miami Herald.
According the report, Adler bundled thousands of dollars in donations to GOP presidential campaigns of John McCain and U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist. Crist is the former governor of Florida.
Adler was charged with one count of conspiracy after being accused of collaborating with Rothstein and other employees of the law firm to donate the bundled money in 2008 and 2009. Adler and other unnamed members of the firm were also accused of receiving salary bonuses for those personal expenses.
Rothstein was arrested in 2010 for racketeering related to his $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
If convicted, Adler faces a maximum of five years in prison. The charge against Adler is designed to accept a plea in order to avoid an indictment of racketeering, which would come with a longer stint in prison if conviction is reached.
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“We’re taking a plea to the campaign finance violation,” Adler’s attorney, Fred Haddad, said to the Miami Herald on Friday.
Adler is scheduled to appear in federal court for the first time this week. Rothstein pled guilty in 2010 and is serving a 50-year sentence. He was the head of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt & Adler.
The charge of conspiracy makes claims that Adler sent $80,000 to the McCain Victory Florida fund back in June of 2008. He was then reimbursed by the law firm at $140,000, which had a salary bonus in it.
Then in October of 2008, Adler sent $124,000 to the McCain-Palin Victory fund. He was repaid $143,000 by the firm. That check was backdated to show it was written six days prior to the date of the contribution, which constitutes fraud.
Crist returned all donations made to his campaign when news broke of the scheme. Rothstein said that Crist took part in contributions-for-favors “quid pro quo,” when testifying.
Crist said that Rothstein’s claims were “gibberish.” He also said, “The guy’s a convicted felon. You can’t believe anything he says. It’s garbage. Rubbish … He should crawl back in his cave.”
