In Indianapolis, former Indiana congressional candidate Gabriel Whitley has agreed to plead guilty to charges of falsifying campaign contributions. The 27-year-old, who ran in the primary election for Indiana’s Seventh Congressional District, admitted to fabricating financial support details for his campaign, "Honest Gabe for Congress."
Court documents reveal that Whitley, who also served as his campaign committee's treasurer, falsely reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions and loans. In October 2023, he claimed that 67 fictitious individuals contributed approximately $222,690. He repeated this false reporting in January 2024 and later falsified a $100,000 loan to his campaign in April 2024.
Whitley faces a potential maximum sentence of five years in prison. A change-of-plea hearing and sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The announcement was made by Brent Wible, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General; John E. Childress, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana; and Herbert Stapleton, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Indianapolis Field Office.
The case is being investigated by the FBI Indianapolis Field Office with prosecution led by Trial Attorney Jacob R. Steiner from the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Preston from the Southern District of Indiana.
It is important to note that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty or they plead guilty in a court of law.