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Conservative D’Souza Spared Prison Time

Five years probation for campaign finance conviction.

Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative writer who was facing prison time for illegally contributing to the 2012 Senate campaign of Wendy Long, was instead sentenced to five years of community service Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman believed D’Souza had not accepted responsibility for his crime—one that “is serious and strikes at the heart of our federal election system,” according to prosecutors. In addition to a $30,000 fine, D’Souza must spend the first eight months of his probation living in a “community confinement center,” while also undergoing “therapeutic counseling,” and allot one day a week to community service during his five-year stint. Before the verdict was announced, D’Souza’s lawyer argued that his client had been singled out for his “consistently caustic and highly publicized criticism” of President Barack Obama.