CLEVELAND, Ohio — An ex-congressional candidate from Rhode Island who ran two Super PACs during the 2018 election has been charged with defrauding his political donors, including a married couple in Ohio who gave him nearly $1.3 million.

Federal prosecutors last week charged H. Russell Taub with wire fraud, saying he misused $1 million of the $1.6 million he raised for two Super PACs he founded called Keeping America in Republican Control and Keeping Ohio in Republican Control. He spent the money he misused on things including travel, clothing, cigars, restaurants, escort services and adult entertainment, prosecutors wrote in a federal court filing.

(Click here to read a PDF of the charges against Taub.)

Of the money he raised for his groups, nearly $1.3 million came from just two donors, a married couple from Ohio. Prosecutors identify them only as Donors A and B in court filings. Spokespeople for the U.S. Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Super PACs are required to disclose individual donors, but Taub didn’t file federal elections paperwork for the groups. Prosecutors also charged Taub with violating federal elections law for failing to do so.

In a solicitation sent to Donor A on June 13, 2018, Taub wrote that “no one gets paid in our groups because we are volunteers. 100 percent goes back in support.” Prosecutors said that was false.

Taub received money from 166 donors total for his two PACs. Federal Election Commission records show neither of Taub’s PACs have donated money to political candidates, but Taub during the 2018 election cycle personally donated more than $350,000 to Republican candidates across the country, federal election records show. Of that, $25,750 went to Ohio candidates or their affiliated committees, including Rep. Steve Stivers, and former Senate candidates Josh Mandel and Jim Renacci.

Taub, a Republican, in 2016 unsuccessfully challenged Democratic Rep. David Cicilline, who represents one of Rhode Island’s two congressional districts. Taub has no obvious connections to Ohio, and state GOP officials and other Ohio Republicans said Thursday they weren’t familiar with him or his fundraising efforts.

The charges against Taub were introduced in a filing referred to as a bill of information, which generally indicates a defendant is cooperating. The same day the charges were filed, Taub signed a written agreement to plead guilty. An attorney for Taub did not immediately return a message seeking comment for this story.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a Washington D.C. watchdog group, last year filed a complaint against Taub over his claims to be an “ambassador” to the International Human Rights Commission, a Ukrainian organization founded around the same time as Keeping America in Republican Control, according to the Providence Journal.