Tyler Harber sentenced to two years

A former Knox County political operative who went on to work the national stage was sentenced Friday to two years behind bars for violating a federal law that bars candidates from using money in conjunction with outside groups, according to the Washington Post

Tyler Harber, whose political antics under former Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale in the mid-2000s earned him the scorn of the local GOP party, is the first person in the United States prosecuted for illegally coordinating federal election contributions, according to the government.

According to the Post's online story Friday morning, Harber told U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady: "I'm guilty of this. I knew it was wrong when I did it . . . .I got caught up in what politics has become."

Full story RIGHT HERE.

Former Knox politico Tyler Harber seeks reduction in conviction

Harber

A former Knox County politico who went on to work on the national political stage faces federal sentencing Friday in a unique case.

Tyler Harber, 34, would be the first person in the United States prosecuted for illegally coordinating federal election contributions, according to the government.

Harber, an aide in the mid 2000s to Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale, admitted in February in U.S. District Court in Virginia that he secretly used more than $300,000 from a Super PAC he helped set up to benefit the campaign of a Virginia Republican congressional candidate he was managing in 2012.

The former Tennessean, who left Ragsdale's administration in 2005 amid accusations of engaging in local political dirty tricks, also admitted lying to the FBI about what he was doing.

Federal law bans anyone from coordinating Super PAC money with political candidates and campaigns.

He also has admitted using $138,000 in National Republican Victory Fund money for his own benefit and that of his family, documents show.

According to the government, Harber used his wife and mother in trying to carry out the scheme.

Political journal "Campaigns & Elections" once called Harber a "rising star" in American politics.

They've since renounced him.

Federal prosecutors are urging U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady of the Eastern District of Virginia to acknowledge the importance of setting a precedent in punishing Harber, who they characterize as "an intelligent and careful man with significant experience in politics and campaign finance."

"He knew exactly what he was doing and exactly the best way to conceal it from his party and from law enforcement," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark D. Lytle writes in his sentencing memo.

"He is, in short, the most dangerous sort of political operative by virtue of his knowledge and experience, and he employed both to successfully complete the crimes he intended."

Rest of story RIGHT HERE.

Former Ragsdale operative pleads guilty to Va. campaign violations

Harber

Remember Tyler Harber? Former Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale's political operative and overall screw-up? Yeah, well, go figure, looks like he's hit the big time. As in the feds are going to make an example out of him for violating a campaign law they don't usually enforce.

It's the kind of thing that happens when you're dumb enough to lie to FBI agents. But whatever.

According to the Washington Post:

An oft-quoted Republican political operative pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally directing a political action committee to buy ads to help a congressional candidate whose campaign he managed — a rare enforcement of federal law that bars candidates from spending money in conjunction with their independent allies.

Federal authorities said the plea deal reached with 34-year-old Tyler Harber — who managed the unsuccessful 2012 congressional campaign of Virginia Republican Chris Perkins — sends a warning to those in politics that they need to keep a separation between candidates and outside groups. Prosecutors hailed the case as the “first criminal prosecution in the United States based upon the coordination of campaign contributions between political committees,” and four legal experts said they could think of no other examples, despite an explosion of independent groups’ spending in political races in recent years.

His sentencing is set for June. You can read the full story RIGHT SMACK HERE.