Ohio: Taft indicted
Toledo Blade reports: Gov. Bob Taft today became the first Ohio Governor charged with a crime. The four misdemeanor counts stem from failing to report 52 gifts including golf games, meals, and professional sports tickets. ...
The charges were announced this afternoon at a news conference with Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien and Columbus City Attorney Richard Pfeiffer. The gifts were worth nearly $6,000 and occurred from 2001 through 2004, records show.
Mr. Taft, 63, the great-grandson of William Howard Taft, the 27th president, is Ohio’s first sitting governor to be charged with a crime. The maximum penalty for a first-degree misdemeanor is a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail.
The charges are the result of a two-month investigation by the Ohio Ethics Commission into the governor’s alleged infractions. Although time behind bars in considered unlikely, the charges could lead to Mr. Taft’s impeachment under the Ohio Constitution.
Mr. Taft has said the errors and omissions were inadvertent. He has characterized any items he failed to disclose as “not purposeful.” -- Taft is first Ohio governor to be charged with crimes in office