An Alexandria woman who worked as a political campaign treasurer for more than two decades has pleaded guilty to embezzling campaign contributions and committing tax evasion, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Katherine Margaret Buchanan, 59, of Alexandria, admitted in federal court Monday to misappropriating at least $840,006.98 in contributed funds from various campaign committees and political action committees where she served as treasurer between 2020 and 2024.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia did not identify the committees or candidates that Buchanan worked for. The federal charges relate to embezzlement from three federal candidates, while the Virginia data shows she also worked for state-level campaigns during the same period.
Records from the Virginia Public Access Project show that during the 2020-2024 period, when the alleged embezzlement occurred, Buchanan received $104,400 from Virginia political committees. This included $72,000 from former Attorney General Mark Herring’s campaign, $26,400 from One Commonwealth PAC, and $6,000 from Alexandria Mayoral candidate Steven Peterson’s campaign. The payments were primarily for legal, accounting, and banking services ($98,400) and staff/consultant work ($6,000).
Buchanan worked as a political campaign compliance consultant for more than 20 years for various political campaigns and PACs, typically holding the title of “Treasurer.” The Virginia Public Access Project data shows she primarily provided legal, accounting and banking services to campaigns, receiving $375,959 for such services across all her clients, along with $78,350 for staff and consultant work.
Court documents show she used her access to campaign funds to convert the money for personal use through multiple schemes, including making payments to her personal credit cards using campaign funds, using official campaign credit cards for personal purchases, and transferring money from campaign bank accounts into her personal accounts.
The Alexandria resident used the embezzled funds for luxury personal expenses, including dining, landscaping, aesthetic services, a Peloton exercise bike, clothing, airline tickets to Italy, concert tickets and suites, chartered yacht tours, and legal fees.
In addition to the embezzlement charges, Buchanan also under-reported her income to the Internal Revenue Service from 2017 through 2022, resulting in $671,200 in unpaid federal taxes.
U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. accepted Buchanan’s guilty plea during Monday’s hearing at the federal courthouse in Alexandria. She faces up to five years in prison for each charge and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 8.
The case was announced by Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Emily Odom, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division; and Kareem A. Carter, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge of the Washington D.C. Field Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine E. Rumbaugh is prosecuting the case.
