The manager of the 2020 campaign that launched the far-right politician Marjorie Taylor Greene to Congress has been ordered to pay $25,000 for his role in a charity scam aimed at capitalizing on the East Palestine train crash.
Isaiah Wartman and his business partner Luke Mahoney must each pay $22,000 in restitution as well as $3,000 in investigative costs and fees as part of a settlement with the Ohio attorney general’s office, which prosecuted the case. Meanwhile, the settlement calls for a co-founder of the fake charity, Michael Peppel, to pay a $25,000 civil penalty and be banned from starting, running or soliciting for any charitable organization in the state.
The two allege that they returned the rest of the money when they found out there wasn’t a deal to donate the money to the food bank/organization. And that it was a 3rd individual who actually scammed them into participating.
Hopefully they proved that to the court before being let off with this wrist slap, but it’s a Republican AG and Republican judge, so who knows.
I’m with you. I wanted to preface with “not that I believe it but…”