A federal judge sentenced a former Wisconsin resident to 20 months in federal prison on Wednesday for funneling over $400,000 in illegal campaign donations into U.S. elections after renouncing his U.S. citizenship and becoming a citizen of the Caribbean nation Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The case illustrates federal enforcement against foreign nationals attempting to circumvent campaign finance law. Federal law strictly prohibits foreign nationals from making any contributions to U.S. political campaigns or elections.
Hoffman had lived in Madison, Wisconsin, before becoming a citizen of the Caribbean island nation. According to court records, he became a Saint Kitts and Nevis national in January 2009 and renounced his U.S. citizenship seven months later in July 2009.
A Scheme to Route Foreign Donations
After renouncing his citizenship, federal law prohibited Hoffman from making any contributions to U.S. elections. Yet he devised a scheme to circumvent those restrictions. Using an assistant identified in court documents only as M.W., Hoffman routed money through the assistant to conceal his foreign status and funnel it into campaign coffers.
Years of Illegal Contributions
Between 2010 and 2020, Hoffman made approximately $345,000 in illegal federal campaign contributions, according to prosecutors. Including donations to state and Wisconsin races, the total exceeded $400,000. Court documents do not specify which candidates or political parties received the illegal donations.
Guilty Plea and Sentencing
Hoffman pleaded guilty in September to a single count of making illegal donations. At the sentencing hearing, Judge Peterson condemned Hoffman’s pattern of law-breaking spanning more than a decade, characterizing it as deliberate misconduct with sophisticated concealment methods rather than a single lapse in judgment.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Wisconsin prosecuted the case.
Hoffman’s attorney, Mark Maciolek, did not respond to requests for comment.