BOSTON
Boston developer Arthur Winn dodged prison time Tuesday when he was sentenced for violating federal campaign laws in his efforts to persuade politicians to support his massive Columbus Center project between the Back Bay and the South End.
Winn, 72, was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein to a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty Nov. 8 to two counts of making campaign contributions through conduits.
Federal prosecutors had sought a six-month prison term and a $200,000 fine.
Prosecutors said the Brookline resident improperly made 96 campaign contributions through other individuals, totaling more than $64,000, over a nearly eight-year period.
Winn sought and made donations to a variety of elected officials with the hope that they would have some influence over the fate of his company’s developments, primarily the Columbus Center tower that was to be built over the Massachusetts Turnpike. Winn eventually was forced to abandon his plans for that project amid financial difficulties and neighborhood opposition.
Prosecutors said Winn reimbursed people for campaign contributions that he requested that they make to various politicians – essentially concealing the donations’ true origin from the Federal Election Commission and the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. In some cases, Winn avoided the annual limits that individuals can donate to one particular candidate, prosecutors said.
Winn Columbus Center LP, one of Winn’s development firms, has also pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign laws and was previously sentenced to a $1.5 million fine. Former Winn executive Martin Raffol was sentenced to three months of community confinement and a $20,000 fine in December for his role in distributing campaign donations for Winn projects.