Igor Fruman, former Giuliani ally, sentenced to one year in prison for illegal campaign finance scheme

• Igor Fruman was sentenced to a year in prison for helping a foreign national donate to American politicians, per AP.
• Fruman was a key figure in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment.

Igor Fruman, a former Rudy Giuliani associate, has been sentenced to a year in prison for helping a foreign national donate to American politicians, the Associated Press reported on Friday.

Fruman, a Ukrainian-born businessman, previously pleaded guilty to an illegal straw donation scheme that sought to hide the true source of $1 million in campaign donations. Fruman and Lev Parnas were covering for Andrey Muraviev, a Russian entrepreneur, who was hoping to use the illegal donations to launch a marijuana business.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who received $50,000 from the pair, has previously downplayed any connections he had to Fruman or Parnas. Parnas, per the AP, was convicted last October for similar crimes to Fruman and is awaiting his sentencing.

"I knew Parnas," DeSantis previously told reporters, per The Tampa Bay Times. "I didn't know the other guy as much."

Fruman, Parnas, and Giuliani later became central figures in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial. Giuliani worked with the pair to try to find overseas dirt on President Joe Biden's son Hunter, which they could use to aid Trump's campaign.

The campaign finance scheme is unrelated to the Ukrainian dirt-digging, which thus far has not resulted in any charges. Giuliani, per the AP, remains under investigation over whether he violated foreign lobbying laws when he met with Ukrainian officials.

As part of his plea deal, Fruman admitted to the foreign donor scheme, but he also faced a litany of other campaign-finance-related charges. Prosecutors alleged that Fruman and Parnas formed an energy import-export business that they would use to both cover the true source of the contributions and to enhance the business's name.

One of those allegedly illegal contributions was a $325,000 donation to American First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC. Prosecutors also alleged that Fruman used Parnas' name to cover a contribution to Rep. Pete Sessions, a Republican from Texas, that illegally exceeded federal limits, according to a Law & Crime report.