WASHINGTON — A federal judge sentenced a North Carolina politician Tuesday to a year of probation and a $7,500 fine after prosecutors said in court records last week that she “thwarted the voting public’s ability to make informed decisions at the ballot box.”
But federal District Judge Christopher Cooper, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that this was a one-time indiscretion by Lynda Bennett, 65, of Maggie Valley, and she didn’t deserve more than probation for her crimes that could have carried up to a 12-month prison sentence.
“I’m very sorry for the distress and concern I caused my family and friends,” Bennett said from the front of the courtroom, thanking them for their prayers. “They stood by me when doing so wasn’t the easiest choice.”
Bennett, a close family friend of former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, ran in 2020 to represent North Carolina’s far southwestern counties. She lost the Republican primary to former Rep. Madison Cawthorn. Both ran to replace Meadows after he stepped down as a congressman to serve as Trump’s top aide.
Bennett pleaded guilty in March to accepting a contribution in the name of another. Prosecutors told the judge that Bennett had asked a relative for a $25,000 loan for her campaign, but since federal election laws cap primary-election donations from an individual at $2,800, she wrote the donation in her own name.
‘No more politics’
Bennett and her husband, Pat Bennett, arrived at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington for her hearing at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. As she walked toward the front of the courtroom, her husband said, “I love you. God is with you,” and appeared to pray until the judge entered the courtroom. At one point the couple looked at one another and mouthed, “I love you” to one another again.
Cooper told his audience in the courtroom that he had read the attorneys’ recommendations that included asking for no form of confinement.
In court documents filed last week, the prosecutors wrote, “With respect to Bennett’s history and individual characteristics, the evidence makes clear that the illegal conduct that brings Bennett before the Court was an aberration in what was otherwise a consistent history of being a law-abiding citizen. The Government believes that there is little chance of future illegal conduct.”
Cooper looked at Bennett and asked, “No more politics?”
“No,” she agreed.
He then asked her what she learned as an ordinary person trying to break into politics.
“Politics is not what you think it will be,” Bennett said. “It’s different, it’s harder. I’ll never do it again.”
Part of a larger FBI investigation
Ryan Crosswell, an attorney for the Department of Justice, told Cooper that that campaign finance laws are in place to prevent nefarious activities in politics and that both the U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI take them very seriously. But he said Bennett’s case was unique.
He said she borrowed $25,000 from a family member and then filed it as a loan to her campaign in her own name to pad her reports in order to deter other candidates from running. She never spent any of the money and repaid her relative within eight weeks. Campaign finance documents reported the repayment to Bennett instead of the family members.
Cooper asked prosecutors how they came to learn about this campaign finance violation and they said it was part of a larger FBI investigation. They did not go into details about what the FBI was investigating that led them to Bennett, and prosecutors refused to answer questions following the hearing.
They added that Bennett repaid the money before she ever learned that the FBI was investigating her.
Prosecutors also argued against a fine for Bennett, saying she suffered a net loss due to the investigation, but Cooper said she had a net worth that would support a fine.
“Your offense is not a minor campaign finance violation, but it is not as serious as most,” Cooper said.
He agreed that home confinement wasn’t necessary.
“I sense a lack of need in Maggie Valley to keep someone in their house for a whole lot of time,” Cooper said with a laugh.
He asked Bennett what this case taught her about a normal person trying to run for politics, and she said she’s thought about that a lot.
“It’s unfortunate because normal people should be encouraged to run, and I hope this doesn’t discourage anyone from running, but you have to obey the laws,” Bennett said.
Her own attorney, Kearns Davis, told the judge she’s a rare client in that she’s made it to 65 without even having a speeding ticket.
He offered up nine letters of support from family and friends of Bennett, including her husband, stepdaughters, pastor and colleagues that Cooper read prior to the hearing Tuesday.
Her husband wrote about the amazing woman he found in Bennett and how she stepped in to help raise his two daughters after his first wife left them.
“Many people would avoid a relationship that involves two young children but Lynda stepped in as if she was their mother,” Pat Bennett wrote. “The girls have said to me more than once they don’t know life any other way.”
He also told the judge that the conviction puts her at risk of losing things she’s passionate for, including her Realtor’s license, which he said she often uses compassionately to help widows trying to sell their homes and make major life decisions, often while in cognitive decline.
He added that neither he nor his wife wanted to be in the limelight and loved their quiet life in the mountains. He said the idea for Bennett to run for Congress came from outside influences and once she lost the couple had no plans to pursue politics further.
