Ginnie Kontnik, one-time chief-of-staff to former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, will plead guilty this Friday to a charge of knowingly receiving a kickback from an employee she supervised.
Kontnik signed and submitted a public disclosure statement that “she knew to be materially false,” Edward C. Nucci, acting chief of the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice, alleged in documents filed last Friday in Denver District Court.
Kontnik is alleged to have knowingly omitted from her Senate financial disclosure report $2,000 in cash she received from an employee, a misdemeanor.
The charge carries a penalty of up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. But in court documents, government officials say they will not seek jail time in exchange for Kontnik’s guilty plea.
She will enter her plea Friday in U.S. District Court. The magistrate taking the plea can sentence Kontnik at that time or at a later date. She has already agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution to the Senate.
Kontnik’s attorney, William J. Leone, would not comment on Kontnik’s guilty plea.
As first reported by The Denver Post, Kontnik received a kickback from employee Brian Thompson by demanding a portion of his bonus. Kontnik acknowledged receiving the money but denied it was a kickback, characterizing the payment as reimbursement for “Senate/political” expenses.
Campbell wan’t available for comment, said his spokeswoman Kate Dando.
“He has faith in our justice system,” Dando said.
Dando would not say what Campbell believed was needed for justice to occur.
