Ohio: Tafts pleads no contest, fined $4,000
Bloomberg.com reports: Ohio Governor Bob Taft was found guilty and fined $4,000 for violating state law by not disclosing golf outings and other gifts, becoming the first governor in state history to be convicted of a crime.
Taft, the son and grandson of U.S. senators and the great- grandson of the 27th U.S. President, William H. Taft, pleaded no contest to four criminal misdemeanor charges. Franklin County Municipal Judge Mark S. Froehlich imposed the maximum fine on Taft and spared him jail time.
``The message is simple and clear; No one is above the law in the state of Ohio,'' Froehlich said during the sentencing hearing. ``Even the governor can be charged and convicted of a criminal offense.''
Taft, a Republican, announced in June that he hadn't properly disclosed golf outings he played in, and began turning over information about the events to the state ethics commission. He failed to report about $6,000 of golf outings and other gifts. -- Bloomberg.com: U.S.