What did Jeff Fortenberry do? Charges explored as Appeals court overturns former Congressman's conviction

The charges of illegal campaign donations against Jeff Fortenberry have been recently overturned by the US Court of Appeals. The charges were imposed on Fortenberry last year, and it included an accusation of hiding the details and two of lying about the same to the FBI, as per USA Today.

The verdict was given on December 26, 2023, by a panel of three judges, who noted that it was not necessary to bring Fortenberry to trial based on the charges. They additionally stated that he could be "retried" in the future.

According to CBS News, U.S. District Judge James Donato explained the overturning in a statement and said:

"Fortenberry's trial took place in a state where no charged crime was committed, and before a jury drawn from the vicinage of the federal agencies that investigated the defendant. The Constitution does not permit this."

While the Justice Department refused to comment on the overturning, Jeff expressed his happiness about his conviction being removed through a statement and thanked all those who have supported him in the last few months.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office, Thom Mzorek, stated that they have started making plans for the next step based on the recent verdict.

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Jeff Fortenberry was accused of lying to the FBI in March last year

Politico reported that Jeff Fortenberry was charged with lying to the FBI regarding illegal campaign donations by a federal jury in March 2022. Jeff was supposed to be sentenced to around five years. The prosecutors revealed that donations worth $30,000 were made to Jeff's campaign by a businessman named Gilbert Chagoury.

Three charges were imposed on Jeff, including one for concealing information and two for sharing false details despite knowing everything about the donation. However, his legal team claimed during a trial that Jeff had reportedly not lied about anything and everything was allegedly a setup to frame him.

Before his conviction, Jeff Fortenberry resigned from his seat in Congress and confirmed the same through a letter that reads:

"It has been my honor to serve with you in the United States House of Representatives. Due to the difficulties of my current circumstances, I can no longer effectively serve."

Jeff spoke to the reporters after his conviction and asserted that he was planning to appeal. He revealed that he was getting a lot of messages from the people he knew and one of his daughters was spotted crying after he was charged by the court.

According to NPR, defense lawyers responded to the verdict by saying that Jeff was responsible for his conviction since he decided to meet the agents and offer help in their investigation.

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Jeff Fortenberry has been investigated for illegal donations since 2021

The official website of the United States Attorney's Office says that Jeff reportedly "concealed" the details of the donations made to his 2016 election campaign by businessman Gilbert Chagoury. Chagoury was restricted from making any contributions to the U.S. elections as per federal law.

The donations were made in 2016 through a fundraiser organized in Los Angeles. The fundraiser's co-host apparently got in touch with The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation the same year, but his identity remains undisclosed.

The FBI immediately started investigating the matter and the co-host reportedly claimed in a phone call to Jeff Fortenberry in 2018 that the donation was received from Gilbert Chagoury. While speaking to the investigators in 2019, Jeff shared false information despite that he was warned about the same by the authorities.