Columbus, Ohio – Gov. Bob Taft pleaded no contest today to charges that he broke state ethics law by failing to report golf outings and other gifts. A judge fined him $4,000.
Taft told the judge he chose not to plead guilty but was taking responsibility for ethics lapses. His no-contest plea wraps up the case less than 24 hours after Taft became the first Ohio governor charged with a crime.
He was fined the maximum $1,000 for each of four misdemeanor counts. No jail time was ordered; the charges carried a maximum sentence of six months on each count.
Taft nodded his head as the charges were read, and his wife, Hope, sat behind him showing no emotion.
The second-term Republican said that as governor he had expected all state workers to follow state ethics laws.
“In this instance I have failed to live up to the those high expectations,” he said.
Taft was charged Wednesday with failing to report 52 gifts, including dinners, golf games and professional hockey tickets over four years. The gifts were worth about $5,800, prosecutors said.
Taft earlier had revealed that he failed to report some outings but said the omissions were accidental.
Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said the gifts included two golf outings worth $100 each paid for by coin dealer Tom Noe, a Republican fundraiser whose $50 million investment of state money in rare coins launched the scandal that led to the accusations against Taft.
