Northern California congressman's father admits illegal donations

SACRAMENTO - The father of a California congressman admitted Tuesday that he illegally arranged for nearly $270,000 in campaign contributions to his son's 2010 and 2012 campaigns.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ami Bera of Elk Grove is not charged and denied knowing of his father's activities. Bera is running for a third two-year term against Republican Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones in a key swing district.

Babulal Bera, 83, of La Palma, pleaded guilty to making excessive campaign contributions and making contributions in someone else's name.

Prosecutors are agreeing to seek no more than 2 ½ years in prison, though each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 4.

The elder Bera arranged for friends, relatives and acquaintances to give more than $225,000 to his son's 2010 campaign, when he failed in an initial challenge to Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento charged late Monday. He illegally reimbursed the donors.

He did the same thing with more than $43,000 in the 2012 campaign, when the younger man unseated Lungren on the second try.

Under the terms of a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed not to charge Babulal Bera's wife, Kanta Bera.

Babulal Bera's attorney, Edward loya, did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

"While I deeply love my father, it's clear he has made a grave mistake that will have real consequences for him," Congressman Bera said in a statement Tuesday. "My father taught me the value of hard work. ... But he also taught me that we are all accountable for our own actions, and he has accepted responsibility for what he did."

Democrats hold just a 3 percentage point edge in voter registration in the suburban Sacramento 7th Congressional District. Bera faces a tough re-election campaign after some union supporters abandoned him because of his support for Democratic President Barack Obama's foreign trade agenda.

"It defies belief that Rep. Bera was unaware of these activities," National Republican Campaign Committee spokesman Zach Hunter said in a statement calling on Bera to "return the dirty campaign cash."

The plea agreement says investigators found more than 130 improper campaign contributions involving about 90 contributors.

Bera's campaign said he has sent the full amount to the U.S. Treasury as required by law.

Jones said he is concentrating on the campaign, with California's June 7 primary weeks away. "We need to allow the investigation and the justice system to discover all the facts and reach their conclusions," Jones said in a statement.