A political consultant and aide to Congressman Bob Brady's campaign, Don D.A. Jones, has pleaded guilty in federal court to lying to the FBI about his involvement in an alleged scheme to pay off a challenger to Brady to drop out of the 2012 Democratic primary.

In addition to pleading guilty to lying to agents, Jones has agreed to cooperate with the prosecution going forward, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia. Both Jones and political consultant Kenneth Smukler were indicted on Oct. 24 on charges that they helped funnel $90,000 from Brady's campaign to former Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Jimmie Moore to drop out of the race.

While the case against Smukler, who pleaded not guilty, is ongoing, the investigation has netted guilty pleas from not only Jones, but Moore and Moore's former campaign manager, Carolyn Cavaness. It is not clear how these guilty pleas might affect the case against Smukler and the investigation into Brady, whose lawyer, James Eisenhower of Dilworth Paxson, has consistently maintained the congressman is innocent of any wrongdoing. Brady has not been charged.

Prosecutors say Moore lied about a $25,000 payment from Brady's campaign to his consulting firm, which he then funneled to his campaign manager's company to later pay Moore.

“The payment was disguised as a payment for Cavaness's consulting services, even though Cavaness performed no work for Jones' company or the campaign of Moore's opponent. Jones understood that the purpose of the transfers was to conceal the payment of funds from the opposing campaign to Moore's campaign in exchange for Moore's withdrawal,” a statement from federal prosecutors said.

Jones' lawyer, Alan Tauber of Lindy & Tauber, in an email provided a statement on behalf of Jones: “I have pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI and acknowledged in court today that what I did was wrong. I accept full responsibility for my actions and consider my guilty plea a first step in making amends. I apologize to the people of Philadelphia and to my family for bringing this dishonor upon them. I am eager to put this unfortunate chapter of my life behind me and get back to being a hard working, law abiding and productive citizen.”

Jones and Smukler were charged with conspiracy, causing unlawful campaign contributions, causing the filing of false reports to the Federal Election Commission and causing false statements to the Federal Election Commission. Only Jones was charged with lying to the FBI.

In July, Cavaness pleaded guilty to covering up the alleged scheme to divert money from Brady's campaign funds to pay Moore. Moore pleaded guilty in October to making false statements to the FEC.

Moore withdrew from the race in February 2012 after the alleged agreement was struck to pay Moore $90,000, according to prosecutors. The law does not allow one campaign to contribute more than $2,000 to another during a primary election.

Moore allegedly instructed Cavaness to create a company whose only purpose was to receive the funds. Those payments, according to the prosecutors, were routed through Voter Link Data Systems and D. Jones & Associates, the political consulting companies run by Smukler and Jones.

A political consultant and aide to Congressman Bob Brady's campaign, Don D.A. Jones, has pleaded guilty in federal court to lying to the FBI about his involvement in an alleged scheme to pay off a challenger to Brady to drop out of the 2012 Democratic primary.

In addition to pleading guilty to lying to agents, Jones has agreed to cooperate with the prosecution going forward, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia. Both Jones and political consultant Kenneth Smukler were indicted on Oct. 24 on charges that they helped funnel $90,000 from Brady's campaign to former Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Jimmie Moore to drop out of the race.

While the case against Smukler, who pleaded not guilty, is ongoing, the investigation has netted guilty pleas from not only Jones, but Moore and Moore's former campaign manager, Carolyn Cavaness. It is not clear how these guilty pleas might affect the case against Smukler and the investigation into Brady, whose lawyer, James Eisenhower of Dilworth Paxson, has consistently maintained the congressman is innocent of any wrongdoing. Brady has not been charged.

Prosecutors say Moore lied about a $25,000 payment from Brady's campaign to his consulting firm, which he then funneled to his campaign manager's company to later pay Moore.

“The payment was disguised as a payment for Cavaness's consulting services, even though Cavaness performed no work for Jones' company or the campaign of Moore's opponent. Jones understood that the purpose of the transfers was to conceal the payment of funds from the opposing campaign to Moore's campaign in exchange for Moore's withdrawal,” a statement from federal prosecutors said.

Jones' lawyer, Alan Tauber of Lindy & Tauber, in an email provided a statement on behalf of Jones: “I have pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI and acknowledged in court today that what I did was wrong. I accept full responsibility for my actions and consider my guilty plea a first step in making amends. I apologize to the people of Philadelphia and to my family for bringing this dishonor upon them. I am eager to put this unfortunate chapter of my life behind me and get back to being a hard working, law abiding and productive citizen.”

Jones and Smukler were charged with conspiracy, causing unlawful campaign contributions, causing the filing of false reports to the Federal Election Commission and causing false statements to the Federal Election Commission. Only Jones was charged with lying to the FBI.

In July, Cavaness pleaded guilty to covering up the alleged scheme to divert money from Brady's campaign funds to pay Moore. Moore pleaded guilty in October to making false statements to the FEC.

Moore withdrew from the race in February 2012 after the alleged agreement was struck to pay Moore $90,000, according to prosecutors. The law does not allow one campaign to contribute more than $2,000 to another during a primary election.

Moore allegedly instructed Cavaness to create a company whose only purpose was to receive the funds. Those payments, according to the prosecutors, were routed through Voter Link Data Systems and D. Jones & Associates, the political consulting companies run by Smukler and Jones.