Fairfield Resident Participated in Illegal Campaign Contribution Scheme

During the 2012 legislative session a campaign manager and an employee of a “roll your own” smoke shop in Waterbury fraudulently donated thousands of dollars to the campaign of a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The scheme consisted of multiple recruits that served as contributors to the campaign. The recruits allowed checks to be written in their names and subsequently given to the campaign. The recruits were later given cash, which disguised the fact that the smoke shops were illegally donating to the campaign, according to the news release.

Joshua Nassi, 34, of Fairfield, and Benjamin Hogan, 33, of Southington, pleaded guilty Friday in New Haven federal court to “conspiracy to make false statements to the Federal Election Commission and to impede the FEC’s enforcement of federal campaign finance laws,” the news release states.

Nassi was the campaign manager for the campaign, and Hogan was a clerk at Smoke House Tobacco, a “roll your own” smoke shop with two shops in Waterbury, according to court documents.

“Today’s guilty pleas serve as a reminder that there are consequences for those who undermine the integrity of the legislative process by engaging in a concealed pay-to-play system,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Mertz. “The public interest was not being served.  The only interests being served were those of the defendants who put their own interests above all.  This investigation demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to the investigation of corruption at all levels of government.”

Hogan and Nassi will be sentenced on July 9 and July 16.  Both men face a maximum of five years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000, the news release states.