Political Consultant Sentenced for 2016 Campaign Contribution Scheme

WASHINGTON — Political Consultant Jesse Benton was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for his role in funneling illegal foreign campaign contributions from a Russian national to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

According to court documents, Benton, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, native who now lives in The Woodlands, Texas, schemed with another political advisor, Roy Douglas Wead, to funnel political contributions to the Trump campaign from Roman Vasilenko, a Russian national who wanted to meet and take a picture with the presidential candidate. 

Benton arranged for Vasilenko — whose nationality Benton concealed from the campaign and the candidate — to attend a campaign fundraising event and to take a picture with the candidate.

As such attendance and engagement required a contribution, Benton had the Russian national wire $100,000 to Benton’s political consulting firm to make an illegal foreign contribution to the campaign. 

To disguise the scheme, Benton created a fake invoice, which falsely identified the funds as payment for consulting services. 

Benton acted as a straw donor and contributed $25,000 of the Russian national’s money to the campaign, falsely identified himself as the contributor and pocketed the remaining $75,000. 

Because Benton falsely claimed to have given the contribution himself, the relevant campaign entities unwittingly filed reports with the Federal Election Commission that inaccurately reported Benton — instead of the Russian national — as the source of the funds.

Benton and Wead were indicted in September 2021, but Wead died as a result of a massive stroke two months later and was never brought to trial.

In November 2022, Benton was convicted at trial of conspiring to solicit and cause an illegal campaign contribution by a foreign national, effecting a conduit contribution and causing false records to be filed with the FEC.

This isn’t the first time Benton, who has described himself over the years as both a political operative and an activist, has been in hot water over his campaign-related activities.

In 2015, he was indicted for allegedly concealing over $70,000 in payments to Republican Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson to convince Sorenson to change his endorsement from Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. 

The indictment charged Benton and two other defendants with conspiracy, causing false records to obstruct a contemplated investigation, causing the submission of false campaign expenditure reports, concealing these payments from the FEC and the FBI, and perjury. 

However, all but one of the charges against Benton were thrown out by an Iowa judge for proprietorial misconduct, and he was acquitted at trial of the only remaining charge.

The government re-indicted Benton on the dismissed charges, and after a trial he was found guilty of four federal crimes — conspiracy, causing false records, causing false campaign expenditure reports and making false statements.

Benton was sentenced to two years probation, but with the support of Paul and others, he was given a full pardon by President Donald Trump on Dec. 23, 2020.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue