Jason Noble, and William Petroski

A former Iowa state senator concealed payments he received in exchange for defecting from one presidential campaign to another ahead of Iowa's 2012 caucuses and then obstructed an investigation into the incident.

Kent Sorenson of Milo now faces up to 25 years in prison, after pleading guilty on Wednesday to two counts in federal court in Des Moines.

The case revolves around Sorenson's dramatic jump from the presidential campaign of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann to then-U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's rival campaign in late December 2011, just days before the Iowa caucuses.

According to a statement of facts accompanying Sorenson's plea agreement, he secretly negotiated with the Paul campaign over a period of months to join the campaign and received $73,000.

The payments included several monthly payments, ranging in size from $8,000 to $33,000, routed through a film production company and a second company before being received by Sorenson. Those circuitous routes circumvented reporting requirements of the Federal Election Commission, ensuring the payments were kept hidden from the public.

Sorenson said he wasn't being paid

In public statements when he switched campaigns, Sorenson said he was not being paid. He also provided false testimony to an independent investigator about the payments "in part to obstruct investigations that he anticipated by the FBI and FEC," according to the Department of Justice.

He pleaded guilty to one count of causing a federal campaign committee to falsely report its expenditures to the FEC and one count of obstruction of justice.

Sorenson, who awaits sentencing, could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the first count and 20 years in prison and another $250,000 fine for the second.

"Today, Mr. Sorenson has taken responsibility for his crimes," said Timothy Gallagher, the acting assistant director in charge of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division. "Exploiting the political process for personal gain will not be tolerated, and we will continue to pursue those who commit such illegal actions."

Sorenson's attorney, F. Montgomery Brown, issued a statement on behalf of his client.

"Mr. Sorenson's pleas are part of the process of taking complete responsibility for the series of compounding errors and omissions he engaged in, aided and abetted, and participated in with others," Brown said in the statement. "This is a very sad day for Mr. Sorenson, his family and his friends."

As part of the plea agreement, Sorenson's wife, Shawnee, will not be charged in the case.

An attempt to reach Sorenson directly was unsuccessful. A woman who answered his cellphone said he was not available.

The guilty plea is the latest turn in a lengthy drama over Sorenson's role in the Bachmann and Paul campaigns.

Resignation followed release of report

Sorenson, a Republican elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010, resigned last October following the release of a damning report by an independent investigator working on behalf of the Senate Ethics Committee.

That report found "probable cause" that Sorenson broke Senate ethics rules by accepting payments from a political action committee associated with Bachmann. The report also said his denials of taking such payment may represent a felony under Iowa law.

Funds were sent through two firms

The 566-page report focused primarily on Sorenson's dealings with the Bachmann campaign, but is the most authoritative accounting so far of his presidential campaign activities.

In it, Mark E. Weinhardt, the specially appointed independent counsel to the Senate Ethics Committee, reported that Sorenson was paid by the Bachmann campaign and by a Bachmann-controlled political action committee, but filtered the funds through two separate consulting firms.

It also found that Sorenson received a $25,000 check from a senior official in Paul's presidential campaign, which he did not cash, and $73,000 in wire transfers.

Weinhardt called the payments — which became the focal point of the federal investigation that resulted in Wednesday's guilty plea — "deeply suspicious."

Drake's Goldford: Sorenson saga shouldn't affect caucuses' future

The long-running saga of Sorenson's campaign dealings case has sparked concern that Iowa's political reputation could be damaged and its first-in-the-nation caucuses imperiled.

But Dennis Goldford, a Drake University political scientist and caucus expert, said he doesn't see Sorenson's conviction as having a significant impact on the future of the event.

Iowa caucus participants know that such incidents are "extremely rare," he said, while others may simply consider it another "yuck factor" about politics.

What is more significant is how Iowa Republicans follow up on issues that arose in the January 2012 presidential caucuses, which initially saw Mitt Romney declared the GOP winner, only to have Rick Santorum later declared the victor, he said.

Tim Hagle, a University of Iowa political scientist, said Sorenson's conviction will hopefully have only a minor effect on the Iowa caucuses, but he suspects that U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., may be asked questions about it because payments came from the presidential campaign of his father, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.

Even though Rand Paul may not have been closely associated with his father's campaign, he will need to be prepared with a response, Hagle said.

Hagle added, "Republicans will have to take great care that this kind of thing doesn't happen again."

Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann declined to comment on the matter.