PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Jay Odom, 56, of Destin, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Lacey A. Collier to six months in federal prison for his conviction on one count of causing a presidential campaign committee to make a false statement to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Additionally, Judge Collier ordered Odom to pay a fine of $46,000 and a Special Monetary Assessment of $100 for the felony conviction. The sentencing was announced this afternoon by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Robert O. Davis, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
According to court documents, in approximately December 2007, Odom directly and indirectly solicited employees of his business entities and their family members to each make the maximum allowable contributions to the authorized campaign committee of a presidential candidate. The employees were encouraged to make these donations with the understanding that Odom would advance funds to or reimburse these individuals for their contributions. During his guilty plea on February 12, 2013, Odom admitted to both knowing that this activity was illegal and intending to conceal the true source and amount of the campaign contributions.
In 2007, Odom directly or indirectly used personal funds to reimburse individual contributions to the authorized campaign committee of the presidential candidate for a total of $23,000. As a result of this scheme, Odom intentionally caused the presidential candidate’s authorized campaign committee to file a report with the FEC that falsely stated that 10 individual donors had made federal campaign contributions when in fact each contribution was made by Odom.
This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall J. Hensel and Trial Attorney Brian K. Kidd of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.
