Woman pleads guilty to lying about boss’s Lexington council campaign donation scheme
A woman has conditionally pleaded guilty to perjury and lying to the FBI after she got involved in a scheme to circumvent campaign finance laws in a Lexington city council race.
Elizabeth Stormbringer, 51, entered the plea Wednesday, admitting she lied to the FBI. Officials at the time were investigating potential campaign finance crimes committed by her boss at a Lexington real estate development company. She also admitted to lying under oath while she testified before the grand jury.
The FBI interviewed Stormbringer after investigators discovered she made a $1,000 donation to a Lexington city council candidate in the May 2018 council race and then received a $1,000 check from her boss, Timothy Wayne Wellman. Wellman was an executive at CRM Companies who had a development project the council considered.
Wellman was convicted over using straw donors to avoid a $2,000 limit on what he could directly donate to a candidate. He was convicted in federal court for influencing the others involved to lie to investigators, according to court records. He was sentenced to a year in federal prison. He appealed his federal conviction and sentence. The appeal is still pending.
Stormbringer told investigators Wellman paid her $1,000 for work she did, according to court records. Federal prosecutors brought her before a grand jury while attempting to indict Wellman. They told her they believed she lied to the FBI, and they offered her immunity for lying if she came clean.
Stormbringer acknowledged the offer and then still lied, prosecutors said in court records.
Stormbringer first told the grand jury Wellman gave her a $1,000 check for “cleaning over at a couple of his stock rooms,” according to court records.
After claiming the check was for cleaning, Stormbringer asked if she could talk to her attorney, according to court records. She returned to give more testimony to the grand jury and admitted she lied previously. She said Wellman told her to donate and paid her back with the check.
But part of the false story returned when Stormbringer testified at Wellman’s trial. Stormbringer admitted Wellman asked her to write a campaign contribution check, but she denied being reimbursed by Wellman. She said she thought the $1,000 check “was for work” she did, according to court records.
Prosecutors asked why she told the grand jury the money was for reimbursement. She replied, “because that’s what you wanted to hear,” according to court records.
The court took a break so she could talk with her attorney, according to court records. She resumed testimony and admitted the check was reimbursement for her donation. But prosecutors said her answers during cross-examination made the circumstances unclear.
“All I know is that I had a check on my desk for $1,000,” Stormbringer said in court testimony. “I was assuming it was for my cleaning, and instead, it was actually the reimbursement.”
Stormbringer was federally indicted in December.
Conditional guilty plea could be withdrawn
Stormbringer previously tried to dismiss the indictment, arguing that she should have been granted the immunity promised by prosecutors because she eventually told the truth. She also argued that changing her story didn’t negatively affect the prosecution’s case.
“Stormbringer, each time she testified, ultimately testified in accordance with the government’s theory of the case,” Stormbringer’s attorney, Rachel Yavelak, wrote in court records. “The government secured a multi-count indictment against Wellman, and the government secured a guilty verdict against Wellman at trial.
“The government received the benefit of its bargain with Ms. Stormbringer.”
Yavelak cited transcripts from the trial, which indicated Stormbringer admitted multiple times the check she received from Wellman was reimbursement for the campaign donation.
“Stormbringer unequivocally stated the check was a reimbursement,” Yavelak wrote in court records.
Prosecutors disagreed. They said Stormbringer’s charges should be upheld because she changed her story multiple times, according to court documents. They also didn’t believe she ever fully admitted her lie.
A federal judge denied Stormbringer’s attempt to dismiss the case. Court discussion Wednesday indicated Stormbringer plans to appeal that denial. If she wins her appeal to dismiss, she’s allowed to withdraw her guilty plea. She’s not allowed to withdraw her guilty plea if her appeal fails, per her sentencing agreement.
Disagreements on sentencing guidelines
Stormbringer could face as much as five years in prison, a maximum $250,000 fine and three years of probation for each of the two counts to which she pleaded guilty. She faced a third count, but prosecutors said in court Wednesday they will ask to dismiss it.
Prosecutors didn’t offer a recommended sentence Wednesday and indicated there was a dispute over what sentencing guidelines should be followed.
Federal Judge Karen K. Caldwell scheduled Stormbringer’s sentencing for Jan. 6.
Caldwell said Wednesday she “can’t make any promises” about what the sentence will be.
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 12:26 PM.
CORRECTION: Wellman was convicted after a trial in state court and the appeal for his federal case is still pending. This information was misstated in a previous version of this story.