Ryan J. Reilly September 17, 2010, 9:17 AM

Paul Magliocchetti — the founder of the now-defunct lobbying firm PMA who was indicted last month on eight federal charges alleging he made illegal campaign contributions and gave false statements — has decided to plead guilty, the Associated Press reports.

Magliocchetti will enter a guilty plea on Sept. 24 in federal court in Alexandria, Va., a source from outside the government who is familiar with the criminal investigation told The AP.

Before it closed last year, PMA was one of D.C.’s biggest lobbying firms and was at the center of a scandal over campaign donations to congressmen who directed hundreds of millions of dollars to defense contractors via no-bid contracts.

The scandal had the potential to take down at least seven Democratic lawmakers — including the late Rep. John Murtha, who chaired the defense appropriations subcommittee — but all were cleared by the House ethics committee last year and the indictment last month did not implicate any lawmakers.

But a federal grand jury subpoenaed documents from the office of Rep. Pete Visclosky, (D-Ind.) and some of his employees and his campaign committees more than a year ago, the AP said.

One of the reason Magliocchetti may be inclined to cooperate: his son would have likely testified against him, the AP reported:

The person familiar with the probe, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to be able to speak more freely, said a combination of circumstances led Magliocchetti to decide to enter a guilty plea. One was that a son, Mark Magliocchetti, pleaded guilty in the same investigation and likely would have become a witness against his father at a trial. Also, many of the donations were allegedly passed through members of Paul Magliocchetti’s extended family, which would have meant that they, too, would have been in a position to testify against him.

PMA, PMA Group, Paul Magliocchetti, Paul Visclosky