SAN ANTONIO – A former San Antonio resident was sentenced to prison for filing a false report with the Federal Election Commission for his super PAC, Americans for Progressive Action USA (AFPA).
Christopher Richardson, 37, was sentenced on Thursday to 18 months in prison and ordered to three years of supervised release. Richardson also committed credit card fraud, according to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
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A news release from the office states Richardson pleaded guilty to one count of making a false entry in a record and one count of access device fraud on Feb. 29. He has a prior federal conviction for bank fraud.
Richardson created AFPA in 2020 using fictitious names for AFPA’s treasurer and designated agent, the release states.
Authorities said Richardson falsified a quarterly report that claimed AFPA raised $4.8 million from several fictitious individuals and falsely claimed AFPA spent over $1.5 million on advertisements and media to oppose certain U.S. Senate candidates.
“Richardson filed another FEC report that falsely stated that AFPA refunded the non-existent $4.8 million in donations,” the release states. “Richardson also used the alias of one of the fictitious donors to AFPA to obtain a credit card, and then used that card to conduct approximately 200 transactions.”
The FBI Washington Field Office and TIGTA Cybercrime Investigations Division investigated this case. Trial attorney Ryan R. Crosswell of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Gold for the District of Columbia prosecuted it, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Ahmed Baset.