Post by 4g63ownedu on Aug 17, 2005 18:09:22 GMT -5
This is from NBC4i.com: COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Governor Bob Taft was charged with four misdemeanors Wednesday in a Franklin County court, making him the first Ohio governor to be charged with a crime, NBC 4 reported.
The announcement was made the day after Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien and Columbus City Attorney Rick Pfeiffer received ethics records pertaining to an investigation by the Ohio Ethics Commission.
O'Brien said the charges relate to annual financial disclosure statements Taft filed from 2002 to 2005. Prosecutors said they had met with Taft's lawyer and expected the governor to appear in court Thursday morning.
Taft will respond publicly on Thursday and is not planning to resign, spokesman Mark Rickel said.
Investigators have looked for weeks at Taft's alleged violation of a law requiring officeholders to report all gifts worth more than $75 if the donor wasn't reimbursed for the amount of the gift.
O'Brien said Wednesday the outings that Taft failed to disclose included a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game.
Taft, 63 and nearing the end of his second term, would be the highest-ranking official to be charged in a ballooning state investment scandal that began with revelations of problems with an unusual investment in rare coins. His former chief of staff was convicted of an ethics violation in July.
The counts to be filed mark the first criminal charges ever brought against an Ohio governor. If convicted, he could be fined $1,000 and sentenced to six months in jail on each count, but time behind bars is considered unlikely.
Finally, JUSTICE!!! I never liked the goofy looking guy anyway.
The announcement was made the day after Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien and Columbus City Attorney Rick Pfeiffer received ethics records pertaining to an investigation by the Ohio Ethics Commission.
O'Brien said the charges relate to annual financial disclosure statements Taft filed from 2002 to 2005. Prosecutors said they had met with Taft's lawyer and expected the governor to appear in court Thursday morning.
Taft will respond publicly on Thursday and is not planning to resign, spokesman Mark Rickel said.
Investigators have looked for weeks at Taft's alleged violation of a law requiring officeholders to report all gifts worth more than $75 if the donor wasn't reimbursed for the amount of the gift.
O'Brien said Wednesday the outings that Taft failed to disclose included a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game.
Taft, 63 and nearing the end of his second term, would be the highest-ranking official to be charged in a ballooning state investment scandal that began with revelations of problems with an unusual investment in rare coins. His former chief of staff was convicted of an ethics violation in July.
The counts to be filed mark the first criminal charges ever brought against an Ohio governor. If convicted, he could be fined $1,000 and sentenced to six months in jail on each count, but time behind bars is considered unlikely.
Finally, JUSTICE!!! I never liked the goofy looking guy anyway.
