LOS ANGELES — A mainstay conservative candidate on Southern California election ballots for years may have to end his political aspirations for good after striking a deal with federal prosecutors over fraud.
Omar Navarro, a failed four-time congressional candidate accused of funneling thousands of dollars of campaign funds for his personal use, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of wire fraud as part of a plea agreement.
Navarro failed to win a congressional seat in multiple campaigns against Rep. Maxine Waters, but drew the attention of high-profile Republican and right-wing political figures like Roger Stone, former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Alex Jones, helping him raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in his unsuccessful campaigns.
But the Republican candidate in 2023 was charged with 43 counts of wire fraud and misusing campaign funds, funneling tens of thousands of dollars for his personal use through his mother and a close friend.
As part of his deal with prosecutors, Navarro agreed to plead guilty to a single count of wire fraud, a felony, which forfeits his right to vote or hold office, putting an end to a controversial political career where he managed to rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations and gain the support of figures like Michael Flynn and Herman Cain without ever winning an election.
David Evans, Navarro’s attorney, declined to comment.
According to the initial complaint, Navarro had no other source of income other than campaign funds, but between January 2018 and July 2020, prosecutors allege he deposited more than $100,000 in cash to his personal accounts.
Investigators found that Navarro’s mother, Dora Asghari, 59, and his friend, Zacharias Diamantides-Abel, 34, would often cash campaign payments. When checks were deposited into their bank accounts, they often withdrew the money quickly to share the money with Navarro.
Federal prosecutors alleged Navarro used money from campaign donations for trips to Las Vegas, wine country, and to pay for his legal defense in a 2020 stalking case.
According to the initial complaint, Diamantides-Abel and Asghari received $49,260 and $58,625 respectively, from Navarro’s failed campaigns between Dec. 2017 and June 2020.
On Wednesday, Asghari pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during their investigation. Diamantides-Abel has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Both will be sentenced at future dates.
But Navarro’s mother and friend weren’t his only avenues for cashing in donated funds. Federal prosecutors allege Navarro set up a sham charity, called the United Latino Foundation, to embezzle money for his personal use.
He gained attention in 2016 when he ran against Waters, then again in 2018, 2020 and 2022. Despite the notoriety, he consistently received less than 25% of the vote in the elections.
Navarro has also been an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, and has promoted conspiracy theories on his social media accounts.
In 2020, Navarro posted on Twitter the slogan of the QAnon conspiracy, and on social media promoted Pizzagate, the conspiracy that a Washington, D.C., pizza shop was involved in the sexual trafficking of children. That conspiracy theory ultimately led to a shooting.
Earlier this month, Navarro took to social media to say the charges against him were politically motivated.
“I seriously need help,” he posted on X. “I don’t have connections or anyone who can help. This whole case is politically motivated. My only crime is standing up against (Maxine Waters) and running for congress.”
This isn’t the first time Navarro has found himself in legal trouble, with his legal woes coinciding with his runs for office.
In 2016, he was sentenced in Orange County to a day in jail and 18 months probation for placing a tracking device on his estranged wife’s car.
In 2017, he resigned as a Torrance traffic commissioner after video showed him in the back seat of a car while the driver and another passenger pepper-sprayed people at a pro-sanctuary cities rally in Cudahy.
In 2018, he was approached by the FBI after he posted a fake letter claiming that Waters wanted to resettle Somali refugees in her Los Angeles district.
In 2019, he was arrested after he was spotted outside his ex-girlfriend’s house, violating a restraining order she had obtained against him.
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