NC attorneys plead guilty in Sheriff Clarke fundraising scam

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Two attorneys from North Carolina have pleaded guilty in federal court in Wisconsin to charges that they created a sham political action committee.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Milwaukee announced Monday that Jack Daly, 51, pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring to commit mail fraud and lying to the Federal Election Commission. Nathanael Pendley, 61, pleaded guilty to the same charges on Monday.

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The attorneys formed a political action committee in 2017 that they said was designed to convince former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke to run for U.S. Senate, according to court documents. The committee raised more than $1.6 million from donors but most of the money was spent to personally benefit Daly and Pendley rather than to persuade Clarke to run.

Two North Carolina attorneys have pleaded guilty to soliciting donations for a fake political action committee supporting a Senate bid by former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who never ran for the seat. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The attorneys continued to solicit donations after they learned that Clarke had publicly announced he wouldn't run for Senate and had characterized the committee as a scam.

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They also submitted false information to the Federal Election Commission, including a form that identified a committee intern as the treasurer even though Daly and Pendley knew the intern didn't have any responsibilities as treasurer, according to court documents.

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The attorneys are set to be sentenced in September.