WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A political consultant who worked on President Barack Obama's 2004 Senate campaign and advised Philadelphia congressman Chaka Fattah pleaded guilty on Wednesday to participating in a scheme to provide illegal campaign contributions.
Thomas Lindenfeld, 59, admitted he agreed to route an illegal $1 million contribution for an elected official during a 2007 campaign, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
The official is described only as Elected Official A.
A Washington Post profile of Lindenfeld published in April described him as a former partner of ex-Obama adviser David Axelrod, and as a campaign strategist to both former Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty and to Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser.
The Post also reported that Lindenfeld had worked on Obama's Illinois Senate campaign.
Prosecutors said the contribution was in the form of a loan, and that Lindenfeld engaged in a complicated series of transactions using federal grant money and monies from Sallie Mae's charitable arm to illegally repay the loan.
Another of Fattah's aides and Fattah's son, Chaka Fattah Jr, were charged this summer in connection with fraud or campaign finance violations. The aide, Gregory Naylor, pleaded guilty in August. Fattah Jr was expected to face trial next year.
A lawyer for Lindenfeld, who pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha; Editing by Jim Loney)