Rothstein Associate Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), announced that Marybeth Feiss, 42, of Ft. Lauderdale, pled guilty today to conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act and to defraud the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. Sentencing is scheduled for May 4, 2012 in West Palm Beach before U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra. At sentencing, she faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison.

Feiss was employed as an administrative assistant at the former Ft. Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein Rosenfeldt & Adler, P.A. (RRA). According to the factual stipulation filed in Court in support of the guilty plea, her duties at RRA included assisting in organizing events, including functions for political candidates, and assisting in collecting campaign contributions made at those events. To circumvent campaign finance laws setting limitations on the amounts which donors can contribute, Rothstein enlisted some of the attorneys and administrative personnel of RRA, and other persons associated with RRA, including Feiss, to make political contributions to various political campaigns which were unlawfully reimbursed to them by RRA.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the IRS-CID. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence D. LaVecchio, Paul F. Schwartz, and Jeffrey N. Kaplan.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.