Ex-Wisconsin man sentenced for illegal campaign funds

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A former Wisconsin man who confessed last year to illegally funneling more than $400,000 in campaign funds to support state and federal candidates and committees after renouncing his U.S. citizenship will spend the next 20 months behind bars.

Court records show U.S. District Judge James Peterson, in Madison, sentenced Roger Hoffman, 69, on April 15. He also ordered Hoffman to pay a $150,000 fine.

Hoffman, born in Madison in 1956, gave up his U.S. citizenship in 2009 and became a citizen of the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

The self-employed investor and millionaire formally severed ties with the United States by signing an Oath of Renunciation of Nationality document in 2009, though real estate records indicate that he still maintains a Madison residence.

Prosecutors argued in court documents that Hoffman used a personal assistant in Madison to funnel $407,102 in campaign donations on Hoffman’s behalf between 2008 and 2020, including $45,500 to Wisconsin candidates and political committees.

The recipients of the illegal donations are not identified in the court filings. While he was still an American resident, Hoffman gave primarily to Republican and conservative candidates and political groups.

The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 makes it illegal for foreign nationals to contribute or donate to candidates seeking federal state and local office.

Hoffman initially was charged in 2021 with 13 felonies, including two counts of contributions by a foreign national, contribution in the name of another and conspiracy to defraud the United States. A superseding indictment in January 2022 added four more charges.

The indictments accused Hoffman of engaging in a illegal scheme by giving money to his personal assistant in Madison, identified in court papers only as M.W., and directing her to make donations to specific candidates or groups in her name.

Hoffman pleaded guilty in September to a single count of violating federal election law by knowingly donating to U.S. election campaigns even though he is not an American citizen.