Giuliani associate Igor Fruman pleads guilty to one felony count of soliciting a contribution by a foreign national

• Giuliani associate Igor Fruman pleaded guilty to one count of soliciting a contribution by a foreign national.
• He admitted to "willfully and knowingly" committing a crime connected to his work in the US.
• Per sentencing guidelines, he faces up to 46 months in prison and up to a $150,000 fine.

Igor Fruman, a Soviet-born Ukrainian businessman and a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, pleaded guilty on Friday to one felony count as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

Appearing at a change of plea hearing in a Manhattan federal court, Fruman pleaded guilty to soliciting a contribution by a foreign national.

He and his associates, Lev Parnas, David Correia, and Andrey Kukushkin, were arrested in October 2019 and charged with campaign-finance violations, conspiracy, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and falsifying records.

A superseding indictment filed last September additionally charged the defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Parnas is set to go to trial next month. Last year, Correia pleaded guilty to two of the charges - defrauding investors and making false statements to the FEC - and was sentenced in February to one year in prison.

At Fruman's change of plea hearing Friday, a prosecutor for the government said Fruman was admitting to "willfully and knowingly" violating the law.

The prosecutor added that the four elements of the charge he pleaded guilty to were:

• That he solicited a contribution or donation.
• The contribution was to be made, directly or indirectly, by a foreign national.
• That the solicited contribution or contributions amounted to $25,000 or more in a calendar year.
• That Fruman knew the conduct was unlawful.

Fruman confirmed that he entered into a plea agreement with the government, but the judge noted that it was not a cooperation agreement. Per federal sentencing guidelines, Fruman faces 37 to 46 months in prison and a fine of $50,000 to $150,000.

"I deeply regret my actions and apologize to the court," Fruman said at the hearing.

Fruman and Parnas made headlines shortly before their arrest when it surfaced that they were under federal criminal investigation related to their work for Giuliani. In particular, the two men aided Giuliani in his quest to dig up dirt on Joe and Hunter Biden in Ukraine. They were also involved in Giuliani and then-President Donald Trump's effort to oust Marie Yovanovitch, the US's ambassador to Ukraine.

Giuliani's work in Ukraine connected to US domestic politics was a central pillar in Trump's first impeachment inquiry, after which the House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.