Prominent Indian-American hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, who had pleaded guilty to violation of US campaign finance laws by making excess donations to Hillary Clinton and two other Democrats, has avoided a jail sentence that could have stretched up to five years.
Instead, Chatwal, aided by as many as 272 letters of support, got away with a sentence of three years of probation and a $500,000 fine, with 1,000 hours of community service. The prosecution had pressed for a prison sentence, but US District Judge I leo Glasser rejected it, taking it into consideration the many letters of support about his lifetime contribution to the community and the stand that he did not personally benefit from his campaign contributions. Chatwal, who heads the Hampshire Hotels and Resorts that runs 12 hotels and 36 restaurants and bars, apologised saying: “I apologise for what I have done to my family. I have let them down terribly.”
Chatwal, who was among several top-notch Indian-Americans who drummed up support for the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, had submitted one letter of appreciation issued by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008 for his personal efforts in working for the successful conclusion of the deal. last April, Chatwal had pleaded guilty to making more than $180,000 in contributions from to the political campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Senator Christopher J Dodd of Connecticut and Representative Kendrick B Meek of Florida. Federal investigators had hauled him up for making contributions by devising an illegal straw donor scheme under which Chatwal had asked personal acquaintances to make donations and then reimbursed them.