The former Chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party will have to report to prison next month at the order of a federal judge.
Jerry Lundergan, the father of former Democratic Kentucky Secretary of State and 2014 U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes, will have to begin serving a 21-month sentence for his role funneling more than $200,000 in secret, illegal campaign contributions to the 2014 campaign of Grimes.
On Sept. 30, 2021, a federal judge denied a stay in Lundergan’s prison sentence as his lawyers filed a petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to order the Sixth Circuit to send up his case for review.
Earlier this year, on January 25, 2021, the Court granted a Motion for Release Pending Appeal. On August 9, 2021, the Sixth Circuit affirmed Lundergan’s sentence. The Sixth Circuit denied “…Lundergan’s petition for rehearing en banc on September 23 and denied Mr. Lundergan’s motion to stay the mandate pending the filing of a petition for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court on September 29.,” according to documents in the case.
“Given the Sixth Circuit’s opinion and orders, and in light of this Court’s January 25 order, the Court must now schedule Mr. Lundergan’s surrender date to [Bureau of Prisons] custody.
“Accordingly, and the Court being sufficiently advised, it is hereby ORDERED that Mr. Lundergan SHALL SURRENDER for service of his sentence at the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons before 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 30, 2021.”
In September of 2019, following a five-week trial, a jury convicted Lundergan of one count of conspiracy, one count of making corporate campaign contributions, four counts of causing the submission of false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and four counts of causing the falsification of documents with the intent to obstruct and impede a matter within the FEC’s jurisdiction.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Lundergan used the funds of S.R. Holding Company Inc. (S.R. Holding), a company he owned, to pay for services provided by consultants and vendors to a campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in the 2014 election cycle. The evidence established that Lundergan caused the issuance of a number of payments from S.R. Holding funds for services that included audio-video production, lighting, recorded telephone calls, and campaign consulting, between July 2013 and December 2015.
The Republican Party of Kentucky took a victory lap as the news broke on Wednesday.
“Lundergan’s prison sentence delivers justice for the people of Kentucky. Whether funneling illegal campaign cash to Alison Lundergan Grimes, falsifying records to cover it up, flip-flopping on promises to stop using consultants tied to these scandals, or Gov. Beshear’s former top deputy serving hard time for bribery and kickbacks, the Democrats show Kentucky over and over they can’t be trusted,” said Republican Party of Kentucky spokesman Mike Lonergan.
