Russell Adler Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Violate the Federal Election Campaign Act

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; George L. Piro, 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 (IRS-CI), announce that Russell S. Adler, 52, of Ft. Lauderdale, pled guilty before United States District Judge James I. Cohn to one count of conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act and to defraud the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. The defendant was a shareholder of the former Ft. Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler P.A. (RRA).

Sentencing is scheduled for June 27, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. in Ft. Lauderdale. At sentencing, the defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison.

In connection with his guilty plea, the defendant admitted that, in order to circumvent campaign finance laws setting limitations on the amounts which donors can contribute, RRA Chairman and CEO Scott W. Rothstein enlisted some of the attorneys and administrative personnel of RRA, and other persons associated with RRA, including Adler, to make political contributions to various political campaigns which were unlawfully reimbursed to them by RRA.