What did Lev Parnas do? Former Giuliani associate is sentenced to 20 months in prison

Lev Parnas was sentenced to 20 months for campaign finance and conspiracy (image via getty)

Lev Parnas, a Ukranian-American businessman, received a 20 month sentence on Wednesday for charges related to conspiracy, campaign finance and wire fraud. Parnas was also a former associate of New York politician Rudy Guliani.

Lev Parnas was one of the key figures identified during the Trump Impeachment investigation. The case was allegedly related to money Parnas had organized for the Trump Campaign.

According to prosecutors, Lev Parnas and businessman Igor Fruman planned to obtain $1 million in US campaign funds from Andrey Muraviev, a Russian oligarch. They also added that most of the money was not used in the elections and was instead rerouted to fund a cannabis business.

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The alleged crimes of Lev Parnas

Last year, Lev Parnas was convicted of "influence-buying" related charges. Damien Williams, a Manhattan U.S. Attorney, outlined the crimes of Lev Parnas in an official statement.

He said:

“Not content to defraud investors in his business, Fraud Guarantee, out of more than $2 million dollars, Parnas also defrauded the American public by pumping Russian money into U.S. elections and lying about the source of funds for political contributions.”

He added:

“(We will) Aggressively prosecute those who put their personal and financial gain above their country and their investors.”

Parnas was arrested for the campaign finance charges on October 19, 2019, at Dulles International Airport. According to the Washington Post, the misdirected funds were also being used to influence US-Ukraine relations.

In an official statement, the head of New York's FBI office condemned Parnas' actions.

He said:

"(This case is) about corrupt behavior, deliberate lawbreaking"

In an interview with MSNBC in January 2020, Parnas implicated Donald Trump in the campaign finance scheme. He alleged that Trump knew "exactly" what was going on.

Parnas also implicated other important figures. He stated that he had collaborated with Congressman Devin Nunes, aide Derek Harvey, and former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani.

Parnas claimed that he discussed these details in the MSNBC interview because he was concerned about Donald Trump and his followers. Parnas countered the popular concept in the media that Donald Trump operated the country like an organized crime boss.

He said:

“I don’t think Trump is like organized crime, I think he’s like a cult leader.”

The U.S. government has leveled other charges against Parnas. In March, he allegedly conspired to steal from investors in a firm he had founded, Fraud Guarantee.

Parnas told investors that Fraud Guarantee was a company that would help them avoid fraud.

While prosecutors were adamant that he stole from the investors, he was not charged in that case. However, the case is still currently being investigated by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.