‘Honest Gabe’ Whitley Pleads Guilty In Federal Case

Source: MaCabe Brown/Courier & Press

Former Indiana congressional candidate Gabriel ‘Gabe’ Whitley pleaded guilty to falsifying campaign finance records, admitting he lied about raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions ahead of the May 2024 primary.

While Whitley was running in the 2024 Republican primary election for Indiana’s Seventh Congressional District, he reportedly filed three separate reports to the Federal Election Commission that falsely indicated his campaign had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from supporters and loans from himself, according to a United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Indiana press release.

Whitley is said to have fabricated roughly $222,000 in campaign donations and lied about the donations coming from 67 people that he reported to the Federal Election Commission. Three of those 67 people turned out to be completely made up by Whitley.

He fabricated the contributions while serving as the treasurer of his campaign, “Honest Gabe for Congress,” committee.

Whitley now faces up to five years in prison, a hefty fine of $250,000 and three years probation. It will be up to a federal district court judge to determine his exact sentence at a Jan. 28 hearing.

He is expected to have a change-of-plea hearing and a sentencing hearing at later dates.