FRANKFORT, Ky. _ A federal jury found two longtime Democratic operatives guilty Thursday of funneling illegal corporate campaign contributions into Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes' 2014 U.S. Senate campaign, delivering another blow to a significantly weakened Kentucky Democratic Party.
The jury convicted former Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan, the father of Grimes, on 10 counts and Democratic political consultant Dale Emmons on 6 counts after federal prosecutors alleged they had a "concerted scheme" to funnel more than $200,000 into Grimes' election efforts without seeking reimbursement from the campaign.
The most serious charge could carry a maximum of 20 years in prison for each man.
J. Guthrie True, Lundergan's attorney, said the defendants were "disappointed" by the verdict but knew they were taking a chance by taking the case to a jury. True said the verdict will be appealed.
"We would intend to take this appeal as high as possible," True said.
The verdict delivers a blow to the political future of Grimes, who was once seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party. It also wounds two Democratic Party stalwarts who have had a hand in campaigns since at least the 1970s. Lundergan served two terms as chairman of the state party and built up control over a faction of the party. Emmons had worked on hundreds of campaigns from the state House to the U.S. Senate.
For nearly five weeks, lawyers defending Lundergan and Emmons threw everything they had at the jury. They kept government witnesses on the stand for hours, searching for holes in their testimony and trying to convince jurors that any potential illegal payments were honest missteps.
"You don't convict people for mistakes," True told jurors in his closing argument.
The jury sided with government prosecutors, who made the case that Lundergan and Emmons knew exactly what they were doing when they declined to invoice the campaign for various expenses in the summer of 2013. Their assertion was bolstered by evidence presented from Grimes' state campaigns for secretary of state, including that Lundergan had given $20,000 cash and a $25,000 check with the subject line "Boy Scouts" to the government's key witness, former Grimes campaign manager Jonathan Hurst, in 2015.
Defense attorneys attempted to keep prosecutors from using evidence about the state races, but U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove allowed prosecutors to present it to the jury. True said the evidence was damaging to Lundergan and Emmons.
"Terrible," True said. "Really created a challenge when that evidence came in."
The decision to allow that evidence is likely to be part of True's appeal, but the alleged state campaign finance violations could still result in additional charges against Lundergan and Hurst in state court.
Lundergan was convicted of a felony in 1989 for "improperly using his influence to gain a state contract," according to The Associated Press, but that conviction was overturned on appeal.
