Former San Antonio man convicted of falsifying millions of dollars for his super PAC and credit card fraud

SAN ANTONIO – A former San Antonio resident was sentenced to prison for filing a false report with the Federal Election Commission for his super PAC, Americans for Progressive Action USA (AFPA).

Christopher Richardson, 37, was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Richardson also committed credit card fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

A press release from the office says Richardson pleaded guilty to one count of false entry into a record and one count of access device fraud on Feb. 29. He was previously convicted by the federal government of bank fraud.

Richardson created AFPA in 2020 using fictitious names for AFPA's treasurer and designated officer, the release said.

Authorities said Richardson falsified a quarterly report that AFPA had collected $4.8 million from several fictitious people and falsely claimed that AFPA had spent more than $1.5 million on advertisements and in the media to oppose certain candidates for the US Senate.

“Richardson filed another FEC report that falsely stated that AFPA had refunded the $4.8 million in non-existent donations,” the statement said. “Richardson also used the alias of one of AFPA’s fictitious donors to obtain a credit card, and then used that card to make approximately 200 transactions.”

The FBI's Washington Field Office and TIGTA's Cybercrime Investigations Division investigated this case. Attorney Ryan R. Crosswell of the Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Gold for the District of Columbia prosecuted the case, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Ahmed Baset.