A Republican political activist who was dating a Russian secret agent has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering in South Dakota.

Businessman and conservative political operative Paul Erickson, 56, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to 11 counts of wire fraud and money laundering after being indicted a day earlier.

He faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.

The charges appear unrelated to the the case of Maria Butina - the 30-year-old Russian spy he was romantically linked to - who pleaded guilty in December to trying to infiltrate conservative political groups.

Businessman and conservative political operative Paul Erickson, 56, (above in 2003) pleaded not guilty in South Dakota on Wednesday to 11 counts of wire fraud and money laundering

Erickson is a well-known figure in Republican and conservative circles and was a senior official in Pat Buchanan's 1992 Republican presidential campaign.

Prosecutors said Erickson defrauded 'many victims' from 1996 through August 2018.

The indictment accuses Erikson of concocting a variety of schemes to carry out well over $1 million in fraudulent transactions in South Dakota and elsewhere.

His Russian spy girlfriend Maria Butina, 30, pleaded guilty in December to trying to infiltrate conservative political groups

He is accused of recruiting investors for a string of elder care homes, developing a wheelchair that allowed a person to use the bathroom from the chair, and home-building in North Dakota's booming oil fields.

Erickson made false representations to get people to invest in the schemes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Before his indictment, Erickson was caught up in his girlfriend's high-profile case, which was separate from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Butina admitted to working with a top Russian official to infiltrate the powerful National Rifle Association gun rights group and to make inroads with American conservatives and the Republican Party as an agent for Moscow.

She admitted that Erickson helped her as she tried to use his ties with the National Rifle Association to set up the back channels. It's not clear if Erickson will face charges in that case.

The Russian, who is a former graduate student at American University in Washington, had publicly advocated for gun rights. She was the first Russian to be convicted of working to influence U.S. policy during the 2016 presidential race.

Butina admitted that Erickson helped her as she tried to use his ties with the National Rifle Association to set up the back channels. It's not clear if Erickson will face charges in her case

Butina, above with Erickson, was the first Russian to be convicted of working to influence U.S. policy during the 2016 presidential race

Erickson's indictment did not specifically refer to Butina by name, but it indicates he made a payment of $8,000 to an 'M.B.' in June 2015 and another payment of $1,000 to 'M.B.' in March 2017.

The indictment also indicates he paid American University $20,472.09 in June 2017.

In South Dakota, Erickson in 2015 helped arrange speeches for Butina to talk about freedom and entrepreneurship at a Sioux Falls school, at the University of South Dakota and at a teenage Republican camp held in the Black Hills.

Erickson, a native of Vermillion, South Dakota, has led a colorful career.

He was active in politics as a freshman at the University of South Dakota and became vice president of the Student Association in 1980. A profile of Erickson by the Sioux Falls Argus Leader in 2003, when he was working on a campaign to defeat then-Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle, said Erickson was forced out of that Student Association post after obtaining confidential student records and giving them to a political campaign.

He transferred to Yale, serving as national treasurer of the College Republicans while there. He graduated in 1984 and got a law degree in 1988 from the University of Virginia.

He also worked on Pat Buchanan's 1992 presidential campaign and later made an action movie with Jack Abramoff, the former Washington lobbyist ensnared in a corruption scandal in 2006.