Former Mepco LLC president indicted
The former president of Mepco LLC, whose affiliate, Dana Mining Co., operates the 4 West Mine in Mt. Morris, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Morgantown, W.Va., Tuesday for allegedly devising a scheme to make illegal campaign contributions.
James L. Laurita Jr., 57, of Morgantown, was indicted on one count of devising a scheme to cause false statements to the Federal Election Commission and two counts each of causing contributions in the name of another and causing excessive contributions.
According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Laurita is accused of devising an unlawful scheme to use Mepco employees and their spouses to make campaign contributions with company funds to political campaigns of four federal candidates.
The crimes allegedly occurred from March 2010 to July 2013 in northern West Virginia and elsewhere, DOJ said.
The indictment, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, does not name the four candidates, noting only the candidates were seeking election or re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
Federal election law limits the amount of money an individual may contribute to a candidate’s campaign committee “for the purpose of combatting both corruption and the appearance of corruption,” the indictment said. Federal law also prohibits a person from making a political contribution in the name of another person.
According to the indictment, Laurita met with a number of Mepco employees and asked them and their spouses to make contributions to specific campaign committees, telling them Mepco would advance them the funds.
“It was part of the scheme and plan to knowingly conceal from the FEC, the committees, the federal candidates, and the public the true source and amount of the campaign contributions,” the indictment said.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod J. Douglas.