LOS ANGELES — An appellate court docket on Tuesday reversed a 2022 federal conviction in opposition to former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, ruling that he mustn’t have been tried in Los Angeles.
Fortenberry was convicted in March 2022 on expenses that he lied to federal authorities about an unlawful $30,000 contribution to his marketing campaign from a international billionaire at a 2016 Los Angeles fundraiser. He resigned his seat days later following strain from congressional leaders and Nebraska’s GOP governor.
In its Tuesday ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit wrote that the trial venue of Los Angeles was improper as a result of Fortenberry made the false statements throughout interviews with federal brokers at his residence in Lincoln, Nebraska, and in his lawyer’s workplace in Washington.
“Fortenberry’s convictions are reversed so that he may be retried, if at all, in a proper venue,” the choice mentioned.
Patricia Hartman, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, declined to touch upon the ruling’s potential influence for federal prosecutors in Washington.
“We cannot comment on matters where we don’t have charges filed,” she mentioned in an e mail Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nebraska didn’t instantly return a telephone message.
A federal jury in Los Angeles discovered the nine-term Republican responsible of concealing info and two counts of creating false statements to authorities. He vowed to enchantment from the courthouse steps.
Fortenberry was charged after denying to the FBI that he was conscious he had obtained illicit funds from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent.
At trial, prosecutors introduced recorded telephone conversations through which Fortenberry was repeatedly warned that the contributions got here from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent. The donations had been funneled by three strawmen on the 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles.
The case stemmed from an FBI investigation into $180,000 in unlawful marketing campaign contributions to 4 campaigns from Chagoury, who lived in Paris on the time. Chagoury admitted to the crime in 2019 and agreed to pay a $1.8 million high quality.
It was the primary trial of a sitting congressman since Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, was convicted of bribery and different felony expenses in 2002.
Fortenberry and his spouse, Celeste Fortenberry, praised the court docket’s resolution.
“We are gratified by the Ninth Circuit’s decision,” Jeff Fortenberry mentioned in a press release. “Celeste and I would like to thank everyone who has stood by us and supported us with their kindness and friendship.”
Representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles didn’t have a right away remark.
