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Chatwal spared jail for illegal campaign contributions

Hotel owner and convicted felon Sant Singh Chatwal will not serve jail time, the New York Daily News reported. Instead, he was sentenced Thursday to probation, a US$500,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service for making illegal campaign contributions.

Federal prosecutors wanted Chatwal to serve some jail time to prove there should not be a separate set of rules for rich and powerful public figures. But a Brooklyn federal judge evidently was swayed in the other direction by more than 200 letters from Chatwal’s, employees, business associates, recipients of his charity and wealthy friends.

Chatwal, 70, and chairman of Hampshire Hotels & Resorts pleaded guilty earlier this year to using straw donors to give more than US$180,000 to Hillary Clinton, former Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd and former Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek to skirt federal the federal election limit on contributions.

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