Giuliani associate Parnas sentenced to 20 months in prison

NEW YORK (AP) — Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who was a figure in President Donald Trump's first impeachment investigation, was sentenced Wednesday to a year and eight months in prison for fraud and campaign finance crimes.

Parnas, who had helped Giuliani connect with Ukrainian figures as part of a campaign to dig up dirt on President Joe Biden's son, had sought leniency on the grounds that he’d helped the Congressional probe.

But prosecutors said the Soviet-born businessman’s aid was in response to a subpoena and deserved little credit.

Instead, they asked the judge to focus on a jury’s finding that Parnas used the riches of a wealthy Russian to make illegal donations to politicians who might aid the launch of a legal recreational-marijuana business.

Prosecutors had asked that Parnas be sentenced to more than six years.

An October conviction also supported a finding that he made illegal donations in 2018 to jump-start a new energy company.

In March, Parnas pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud, admitting that between 2012 and 2019 he conspired with another person to give investors false information about a Florida-based business, Fraud Guarantee.

Fraud Guarantee was promoted as a company that could protect investors against fraud. Giuliani accepted $500,000 from the company to act as a consultant, but was not accused of wrongdoing or charged with any crimes.

At the emotional sentencing hearing, several individuals who lost money investing in Parnas' business ventures gave statements. Mineola, New York, attorney Charles Gucciardo said he sent the $500,000 to a Giuliani bank account to support the Fraud Guarantee business.

He said he doesn’t blame Giuliani for his connection to a business that never seemed to get off the ground, but instead...