Defendant In Federal Campaign Corruption Scheme Has Livermore Tie

LIVERMORE, CA — The campaign finance scheme that has embroiled Ukrainian associates of President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, has Livermore ties.

The Bay Area's Andrey Kukushkin, 46, who was indicted in the case and pleaded not guilty Thursday in a Manhattan federal court, has deep financial ties to the state's marijuana industry.

He was even trying to start a cannabis farm in Livermore.

Ukrainian-born Kukushkin, who was arrested Oct. 10 in San Francisco, is free on a $1 million bond that was secured by $100,000 cash and a home in Livermore, USA Today reports.

In the days after his arrest, the San Francisco Chronicle detailed some of Kukushkin's East Bay pot dealings, including in Livermore: "Even as Andrey Kukushkin allegedly conspired to illegally funnel foreign money into American political campaigns, he was jostling with zoning boards, planning officials and irate neighbors in the Tri-Valley area, seeking permits to turn a 92-acre palatial estate into a sprawling pot farm," the newspaper reported.

That 92-acre estate, located in Livermore off Morgan Territory Road, is a Mission-style mansion featuring eight bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a guesthouse and a saltwater pool.

The Livermore project stalled due to neighbor complaints, but Kukushkin has substantial links to the state’s marijuana economy, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The Sacramento Beehas also detailed Kukushkin's deep financial investment in California's cannabis industry.

Along with three other men, Kukushkin now awaits the next step in his federal legal battle. The four are accused of illegally funneling thousands of dollars in foreign money to U.S. candidates and committees in an effort to buy influence and boost their business ventures, according to prosecutors.

"The funding, some of it disguised through so-called straw donors, was aimed at boosting the campaigns of Trump-supporting candidates and political action committees, advancing the political interests of a Ukrainian government official and bankrolling a planned cannabis retail business," USA Today reported.