Cohen’s Ex-aide is Guilty – Seacoast Online
CONCORD — The manager of Burt Cohen’s abandoned 2004 U.S. Senate campaign was sentenced Wednesday to one year of probation and six months of home confinement for violating federal campaign finance rules.
Jesse Burchfield, 33, had pleaded guilty to a charge of filing false financial statements to the Federal Election Commission, according to a statement released by the New Hampshire U.S. Attorney’s office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark S. Zuckerman stressed that there was no evidence that Burchfield stole money from the campaign.
“We were able to account for everything,” he said. “There are no funds missing.”
Zuckerman said Burchfield could have received up to six months in jail and a $250,000 fine. He said the fine was waived because the court found Burchfield was unable to pay.
Burchfield, who appeared before U.S. District Judge Paul J. Barbadoro, now lives in Sacramento, Calif. Zuckerman said Burchfield will return to Sacramento to serve his six months of home confinement, which will be monitored by federal authorities there.
The court found Burchfield misrepresented the Cohen campaign’s finances on reports he filed with the FEC. Burchfield understated the campaign’s expenses and overstated the amount of cash the campaign had by about $300,000, according to the statement.
Burchfield had been Cohen’s campaign manager from January 2003 to June 7, 2004.
The financial paperwork scandal caused Cohen to drop out of the race against Republican U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg. Cohen, a former Democratic state senator from New Castle, was replaced by 94-year-old activist Granny D, who lost to Gregg.
Cohen said Wednesday’s sentencing should bring “some closure.”
“I think it’s an appropriate sentence,” he said. “Six months? confinement – he’s paying a price for it.”
Cohen said he hasn’t had any contact with Burchfield since the campaign fallout. He said his biggest regret is that he didn’t get the chance to give Gregg “a real challenge” for his Senate seat.
When asked if he had any plans to get back into politics, Cohen seemed doubtful.
“If I were to do another campaign, certainly I’ve learned a lot from this,” he said. “Like Ronald Reagan said, ‘Trust, but verify’”
PORTSMOUTH – The campaign manager for New Castle Democrat Burt Cohen’s short-lived 2004 bid for the U.S. Senate has been charged with making false statements to the FEC.
Jesse D. Burchfield, 32, who now lists his address as Sacramento, Calif., was charged Tuesday with “causing materially false financial statements to be filed with the Federal Election Commission” by the U.S. attorney’s office for the state of New Hampshire. If convicted, Burchfield could face a maximum prison term of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Cohen seemed clearly relieved by the U.S. attorney’s actions.
“This felony charge against Mr. Burchfield brings an end to the long nightmare which I experienced, and I am relieved that the federal government has declared the guilt of the person responsible,” Cohen said in a prepared statement issued Tuesday. “In lying to the federal government and to me, he victimized me, my family, my staff and thousands of people who contributed to my campaign.”
Cohen thanked the prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office for their work on the case and said he hoped that, with this charge, “never again will Mr. Burchfield victimize any other political candidate or campaign.”
A press release issued by U.S. Attorney Thomas Colantuono said the charges allege that, as Cohen’s campaign manager from January 2003 to June 7, 2004, Burchfield created the reports of receipts and disbursements periodically filed with the FEC. Those reports, Colantuono charges, understated the campaign’s expenses and overstated the amount of cash the campaign had available to the tune of about $300,000, the amount the campaign had on hand according to the last FEC report Burchfield filed for Cohen on April 26, 2004.
The federal charges confirm what a forensic accountant hired by Cohen reported in July. An internal probe commissioned by the former state senator to look into the finances of his derailed U.S. Senate bid showed wide gaps between the funds first reported by the campaign and what was in fact there.
Revised reports filed with the FEC on July 1 suggest the campaign falsified the amount of money it raised as well as the amount of cash it had on hand. The new statements also show huge discrepancies in the amount of money owed by the campaign.
Cohen hired a legal and forensic team to comb his campaign finances following the alleged disappearance of Burchfield and what was thought to be a chunk of the candidate’s war chest. Cohen dropped out of the race against Sen. Judd Gregg well before the 2004 election.
Cohen sent the FEC revised statements of every quarterly and year-end period between January 2003 and April 2005.
The new statements, compiled with help from the Washington law firm of Perkins Coie, seldom match the original reports Cohen filed with the FEC. For example, the original quarterly report of April to June 2004 shows that the campaign owed just $95,500. In the revised report, the campaign’s debt for that period jumped to $223,392.
In another instance, the 2004 year-end report showed that no contributions were made to the campaign in the October-to-December interval. But the revised statement for that same period – which was after the campaign had folded – reported $4,419 in contributions.
Cohen has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and his former campaign treasurer, John Buchalski, has alleged that his signature was forged on some of the original campaign finance reports.
During a conference call with reporters in June 2004, just after Cohen withdrew from the Senate race, Cohen’s attorney – Marc Elias, of Perkins Cove, said the senator was blameless in the case.
“He is a victim of the actions of some others, and I have every confidence that is how this ultimately bears itself out,” Elias said.
Cohen, a Democrat, served in the N.H. Senate for 14 years.
He abruptly ended his challenge against Republican U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg when concerns “about the accuracy and completeness of (financial) transactions” on FEC reports filed by the Cohen campaign came to light, Elias told reporters during the June 2004 teleconference.
Related:
“PORTSMOUTH — The manager of Burt Cohen’s derailed U.S. Senate run in 2004 will likely plead guilty to a federal charge of filing false campaign reports, his lawyer said Wednesday.”
Deal in works for Cohen staffer
PORTSMOUTH — An internal probe commissioned by former state Sen. Burt Cohen to look into the finances of his derailed 2004 U.S. Senate bid shows wide gaps between the funds first reported by the campaign and what was truly there.
Revised reports filed with the Federal Election Commission July — suggest the campaign falsified the level of money it raised and its amount of cash on hand. The new statements also show huge discrepancies between money owed by the campaign and its reported debt.
Cohen probe reveals campaign-fund gaps
PORTSMOUTH — The Federal Election Commission is looking into whether the U.S. Senate campaign of former New Castle politician Burt Cohen, the focus of a federal inquiry for its finances, received contributions exceeding the legal limit for single donors.
The campaign was contacted in a Feb. 8 letter, with an attached spreadsheet, from FEC analyst Samantha Dachik. The spreadsheet lists the names of nine individuals who each apparently made cumulative donations exceeding the FEC limit of $2,000.