Grimm fundraiser pleads guilty
A day after a date was set for the trial of Congressmember Michael Grimm on tax evasion and fraud charges, a woman who raised money for Grimm’s 2010 campaign has pleaded guilty to violating the Federal Election Campaign Act.
Diana Durand, of Houston, Texas, appeared in Brooklyn Eastern District Court before Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr., on September 3, to enter her guilty plea, acknowledging that she had funneled campaign contributions in excess of the amount permitted under federal law to two unidentified candidates for federal office through straw donors to the candidates, identified only as Candidate A and Candidate B in court papers.
Durand also acknowledged either paying the straw donors the amount they contributed in advance of their contribution, or reimbursing them afterwards.