Thomas W. Gore -- the assistant treasurer for Mayor Vincent Gray's 2010 mayoral campaign -- pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony destruction of evidence and creating fake campaign money orders.
Gore was charged Monday with three counts of making illegal campaign contributions and one count of destruction of evidence.
He allegedly made the donations in the names of other people and directed the money to a second campaign, believed to be that of minor candidate Sulaimon Brown. Gore claims three others were involved in making payments to Brown.
The U.S. Attorney's Office alleges that the contributions were three money orders, one for $335, and two for $100 each.
The destruction of evidence charge stems from the claim that that Gore destroyed a spiral notebook containing records of the payments.
Gore has admitted to lying to the FBI to cover up the payments. Even with cooperation, he still faces up to two-plus years in prison, NBC4's Tom Sherwood reports.
The investigation began in March 2011, when Brown alleged to the Washington Post that he was paid by the Gray campaign to attack then-mayor Adrian Fenty's campaign. Since last summer, the investigation has expanded to cover the entire Gray campaign finance operation.
