AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin man pleaded guilty in May to fraudulently soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars in political contributions through many scam political action committees (PACs) that he founded and advertised as supporting candidates of the 2016 presidential election cycle, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Kyle Gerald Prall, an Austin-area entrepreneur, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 36 months in prison.
“Prall exploited the honest political engagement of countless citizens by representing that his organizations were supporting presidential candidates when in fact he was just stealing contributions,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. “In addition to cheating people out of their money, fraud committed in connection with our elections corrodes public confidence in our democratic institutions. The Department of Justice is committed to investigating and prosecuting these crimes.”
“Making donations to a political cause, campaign or candidate is an important expression of free speech and a right all Americans should enjoy,” said Special Agent in Charge Combs. “By misappropriating the donations for his own personal use, the defendant not only violated the trust of his victims, he also deprived them of their fundamental right to free speech. The FBI is committed to protecting this right and holding individuals like the defendant accountable. Before making donations, citizens should be mindful of this unscrupulous fraud scheme and exercise due diligence in researching the legitimacy of an organization.”
According to his admission, 40-year-old Prall created multiple political committees – including Feel the Bern, HC4President and Trump Victory – and advertised them online to solicit contribution in support of the candidates of the 2016 election. The DOJ said the contribution he received did not go to support the candidates as he advertised and he instead transferred the money to himself through sham LLC accounts and to generate more contributions from the other fraudulent political committees.
Officials said Prall admitted that of the $548,428 in contributions, he transferred $205,496 to himself and contributed less than $5,100 to political causes. He also reportedly used the political comittees' debit cards to pay for his personal travel and entertainment expenses such as hotel stays, food, hookah, alochol and bottle service, "club dances performed by entertainers," room service, a massage and more.
Prall agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $548,428, including the forfeiture of the $205,496.68 he transferred to himself, as a part of his plea.
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