Congressman Ami Bera's 83 old father sentenced to one year in jail for campaign finance fraud

Retired chemical engineer Babulal Bera, 83, father of Congressman Dr. Ami Bera was sentenced  to one year and one day in federal prison for organizing a money-laundering scheme that helped fund two of his son’s campaigns, Los Angeles Times reported.

It was a sentence that defense attorneys for Bera, 83, argued was too severe, but one U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley said was appropriate. 'The defendant’s efforts were calculated. This is more than just a naive person who doesn’t know how elections work,' the judge said. 

Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) was not in the courtroom. The two-term Democrat has denied knowing anything about the secret donations and has expressed disappointment in his father’s actions.

Assistant US Attorney Philip Ferrari wrote to the Sacramento federal court in California that because of "the serious nature" of his offence," Babulal Bera did not deserve leniency, the Sacremento Bee newspaper reported.

Babulal Bera admitted in May before Judge Troy L. Nunley that he was guilty of election funding fraud. He admitted that that he funnelled $268,726 in illegal contributions to his son's election campaigns in 2009 and 2011. To circumvent the legal contribution limits, he had 90 people send in the money in smaller amounts in their names and then reimbursed them for what they gave.

Dr Bera, the only Indian American in US Congress, faces a tough battle to retain his seat in the House of Representatives this November.

The maximum sentence for the two offences that Babulal Bera admitted to would be five years for each of them.

Congressman Bera is running against the influential local Republican Sheriff Scott Jones. In the 2014 election he narrowly defeated his then Republican rival, Doug Ose, by just 1,455 votes, a margin of less than one percent.

Prosecutors have cleared Ami Bera of any involvement in the fraud, which he said was carried out by his father without his knowledge. The Congressaman told the Sacramento Bee, "I wish we knew what he was doing. I wish somebody had told me, because we would have put a stop to it."

Jones said that he found it difficult to require an 83-year-old man go to prison but doubted he acted alone.

Jones is himself facing allegations of making unwanted sexual advances towards a subordinate, the Sacramento Bee reported. Jones has denied the accusations.