Dinesh D'Souza, the conservative scholar who made the documentary "2016
D'Souza entered the guilty plea the same day the US District Court in Manhattan was set to open his trial.
According to Politico, the single felony count D'Souza admitted guilt on carries a maximum prison sentence of two years, but the plea agreement D'Souza's lawyers reached with the government says sentencing guidelines applicable to the case call for a sentence of 10 to 16 months.
D'Souza's lawyer Benjamin Brafman said in a statement that they were hopeful that Judge Berman will recognize D'Souza to be a fundamentally honorable man who should not be imprisoned for what was an isolated instance of wrongdoing in an otherwise productive and responsible life.
Earlier, D'Souza, had pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he violated campaign finance laws and was released on 500,000 dollars bond.
Republican candidate Wendy Long had told the investigators that D'Souza lied to her about the source of donations made to her US Senate campaign in 2012, CBS News reports.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Cohen said D'Souza had arranged for two individuals, and their spouses, to contribute a total of 20,000 dollars to Long's campaign, which he later reimbursed the donors.