One of Eli Crane’s fundraising consultants was busted for a meth lab in 2016

An Arizona Republican congressman has paid nearly $150,000 to a fundraising consultant who was a rising star in GOP campaign circles until 2016, when she was arrested after police found an active meth lab at her home. 

U.S. Rep. Eli Crane has paid Emily Pitha more than $40,000 for “fundraising consulting” for his 2024 reelection bid, according to campaign finance filings. Since Crane first ran for Congress in 2022, he has paid Pitha over $146,000. 

In 2016, Pitha pleaded guilty to one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and was sentenced to two years probation. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies searched her house in the 1900 block of East Bethany Home Road after a package intended for her live-in boyfriend was intercepted by Customs and Border Patrol, who found it contained 250 grams of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy. 

When deputies searched the house, they uncovered cocaine, heroin, a half-pound of methamphetamine and LSD. They also found a working meth lab in a shed in the backyard. Her boyfriend, who people close to Pitha said was using her for her political connections as protection, was sentenced to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to having the meth lab and other illegal drugs. 

Crane’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Multiple attempts to reach Pitha were also unsuccessful.

However, after this story was published, Crane defended hiring Pitha in a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

“Emily was put through hell when she was in a toxic relationship many years ago. I’m proud to run a campaign that employs hard working Arizonans who have dealt with adversity,” he wrote. “If the dark money machine in DC wants to attack that, it says more about them than anyone on Team Crane.”

Prior to her arrest, Pitha worked for LovcasCo, a top Phoenix-area political fundraising firm, where her clients included former U.S. Sens Jon Kyl, John McCain and Jeff Flake.  

It was the connections to the political elite that led Pitha’s boyfriend at the time to allegedly believe they could avoid prosecution. 

After the news broke of the bust, McCain’s reelection campaign terminated its relationship with Pitha. 

LovasCo also raised money for an anti-marijuana legalization group. Police said that the home Pitha shared with her boyfriend contained the materials to start an illegal marijuana grow.

Crane has been outspoken in his stance against illicit drugs, often tying the ongoing fentanyl crisis to the border. Close to 90% of illicit fentanyl is seized at official border crossings, however, more than half of that smuggling is done by U.S. citizens. 

Crane did not respond to questions regarding if he knew of Pitha’s past arrest or how it impacted his stances on illicit drugs. Crane has approximately $1.3 million cash on hand and has raised $3.9 million in total. 

Although Crane is paying Pitha directly, she has reportedly been working for LovasCo. In 2022, the Yellow Sheet Report, an insider newsletter aimed at lobbyists and government officials published by the Arizona Capitol Times, reported that Pitha was using her LovasCo email address as the contact for a Crane fundraising event.

And an online listing shows someone with her name has worked as a sales consultant at a Phoenix commercial real estate lender in recent years.

***UPDATE: This story has been updated with a comment from Eli Crane that was posted on social media after this story was initially published.