June 5, 2000
By Terry Frieden
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A member of U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli's 1996 fund-raising team pleaded guilty Friday to violating federal election laws and witness tampering, according to the Justice Department.
In a plea agreement with prosecutors of the Justice Department's Campaign Finance Task Force, David Chang pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, to funneling illegal contributions to the New Jersey Democrat's Senate campaign.
Chang also pleaded guilty to attempting to persuade a potential grand jury witness to give false testimony in the investigation. The plea comes just one day after his business associate, Cha-Kuek Koo, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations.
Koo, an executive with a South Korean conglomerate, pleaded guilty Thursday to making campaign contributions in the name of another person, admitting he recruited eight "straw" donors at the behest of Chang. Chang, who operated several international trading companies, gave Koo $20,000 in cash to reimburse donors to Torricelli's campaign, Koo testified.
Both Chang and former aide Audrey Yu were also accused of directing $23,000 in illegal donations -- separate from the $20,000 -- to the Torricelli campaign.
Yu has not reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, and is scheduled to go on trial in Newark next Tuesday on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.
Meanwhile, Chang faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He is the sixth person to admit wrongdoing with regard to fund-raising, and has agreed to cooperate with the Campaign Finance Task Force. The task force has charged 25 people in connection with abuses in the 1996 elections.
Two other Torricelli supporters, businessmen Berek Don and Carmine Alampi, pleaded guilty last year to making illegal "conduit" contributions to the 1996 Senate campaign. They are both awaiting sentencing.
Torricelli's ability to raise $9.2 million in a 1996 race he won over Republican Rep. Richard Zimmer led to his appointment as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Torricelli himself has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He has maintained he was unaware of the improper donations, which have since been donated to charity. |
