toledoblade.com -- Taft pleads no contest to state ethics charges

COLUMBUS - Gov. Bob Taft was convicted Thursday on four charges of violating state ethics laws by failing to report golf outings with lobbyists and other Ohio powerbrokers.

The governor pleaded no contest, a plea that does not require an
admission of guilt, to the charges. He was fined $4,000 and will not
face jail time.

"No one is above the law in the state of Ohio," Franklin County
Municipal Court Judge Mark Froehlich said, adding that the governor has a duty to "set an example for all citizens."

A visibly shaken Gov. Taft entered the courtroom with his wife, Hope,
and lawyer, William Meeks. State highway patrolmen stood behind the governor as he entered his plea.

"I'm very disappointed in myself," he told the judge.

In addition to the fine, Judge Froehlich ordered the governor to write
a letter of apology to the citizens of Ohio during the next seven
days.

Gov. Taft exluded 52 golf outings, meals, and hockey tickets worth a
combined $6,000 from his annual financial disclosures with the Ohio
Ethics Commission.

The four misdemeanors apply to each year, between 2001 and 2004, that Gov. Taft knowingly submitted incomplete ethics forms.

The charges are part of the larger probe into Tom Noe, the Republican fund-raiser who controlled a $50 million rare coin investment for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

Approximately $13 million is missing from the coin funds managed by Mr. Noe, who is also under investigation for laundering contributions to President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.

The governor played golf with Mr. Noe at the prestigious Inverness
Club in Toledo in 2001, 2002, and 2003, but did not reveal the outings
on his ethics forms.

A mere five days after his July 26, 2002 round of golf with the
governor, Mr. Noe received an additional $25 million from the bureau,
supplementing the $25 million he received in 1998.

At a press conference outside the courtroom, Gov. Taft said that he
realized there were problems with his ethics filings because of the
news articles written about Mr. Noe.

"I accept total responsibility for my mistake, and I'm sorry," Gov. Taft said.

Mr. Noe's downfall has already led to two former Taft aides being convicted. The governor's former chief of staff, Brian Hicks, and Mr. Hick's former assistant, Cherie Carroll, were convicted earlier this month for ethics violations. Both were given $1,000 fines.

During the past two months, Gov. Taft has repeatedly stated he will
not resign for lapses in ethics, even though he forced other members
of his administration to step down for lesser offenses.

Under the governor's watch, Randy Fischer, executive director of the
Ohio School Facilities Commission, pleaded guilty two misdemeanors for accepting free rounds of golf. Gov. Taft asked him to resign.

Former Consumers' Counsel Rob Tongren - who also resigned - admitted to four misdemeanors for similar ethics violations.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said yesterday that the
governor "fully cooperated" with the Ethics Commission, whose two
month investigation ended August 11.

Mr. O'Brien did not rule out bringing additional criminal charges
against the governor if continuing investigations show that he
violated other state laws by permitting his relationships with Mr. Noe
and other business leaders to shape his decisions.

Read more in later editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com.

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