(This article has been updated to include new information.)
Gabriel “Honest Gabe” Whitley, a former candidate for mayor of Evansville, will plead guilty to lying to the Federal Election Commission by providing false reports and inflating contributions to his 2024 campaign for Congress, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
While Whitley, 27, was running in last year’s Republican primary election for Indiana’s 7th Congressional District, he reportedly filed three separate reports to the FEC that falsely indicated his campaign had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from supporters and loans from himself, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He did this while serving as the treasurer of his campaign, “Honest Gabe for Congress,” committee.
According to court documents, in October 2023, Whitley admitted to making up the biographical details of 67 people, so he could falsely file approximately $222,690 in contribution to his campaign. He then again falsely reported contributions from people he fabricated in January 2024. And finally, in April 2024, he falsely claimed that he had received a $100,000 loan to his campaign.