La Cañada Flintridge executive to plead guilty to making illegal campaign contributions

LOS ANGELES  — An insurance brokerage executive from La Cañada Flintridge agreed Wednesday to plead guilty to breaking federal campaign laws by making illegal contributions to a joint fundraising committee that included a U.S. Senator’s re-election effort.

Teena Maria Hostovich, 66, is charged in downtown Los Angeles with making annual contributions of more than $10,000 in the name of another person, a felony carrying a possible prison sentence of up to two years, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Hostovich agreed to plead guilty to the federal charge on a date to be determined and will pay a $43,500 fine, the DOJ said.

She is expected to make her initial federal court appearance in the coming weeks.

Hostovich admitted in her plea agreement to making a total of $75,700 in contributions to federal candidates’ campaign and fundraising committees in the names of others for the years 2021 through 2023.

An attorney for Hostovich could not immediately be reached for comment.

To make the illicit contributions, Hostovich used the names of 11 different people — including employees at the insurance brokerage that employed her, family members of those employees, as well as people who performed personal services for Hostovich and her family, federal prosecutors allege.

She often allegedly stated that she would advance the money for the contribution or pay the person back. Other times, the person who made the contribution had an implicit understanding that Hostovich would advance or reimburse the money, prosecutors said.

Hostovich admitted in her plea agreement that one of the reasons she engaged in such contributions was to secure an appointment to the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees in Washington, D.C. She did not obtain the position.

According to the DOJ, Hostovich failed to reveal to any of the committees that she was the true source of the funds donated by the 11 individuals. Hostovich further admitted that she knew it was unlawful to make conduit contributions and that, before executing the scheme, she made numerous political contributions to federal candidates and served as a host for political fundraisers, prosecutors said.