DENVER-
Former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s chief of staff pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of not reporting $2,000 in income—money that another Senate staffer said was a kickback.
Prosecutors said Ginnie Kontnik, 51, got the money from bonuses she had approved for a personal assistant. She pleaded guilty to a charge of making a false report for not listing the payment in a financial disclosure.
Campbell, a Republican who retired in 2004 after two terms, has said he knew about the bonuses but not about the alleged kickback.
The investigation “uncovered no evidence that I acted improperly,” he said in a written statement Friday. He said prosecutors had assured him he was not a target of the inquiry.
Kontnik faces up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 at her July 6 sentencing and will remain free on her own recognizance till then. She has agreed not to apply for any public jobs for five years and to pay $2,000 in restitution to the Senate.
She declined comment after her plea. Her attorney, former Colorado U.S. Attorney William Leone, said Kontnik was “hopeful to get this behind her and move on with life.”
Kontnik has described the $2,000 as reimbursement for expenses. But Brian Thompson, another former Campbell staffer, accused Kontnik in early 2004 of giving him bonuses with an understanding that he would return $2,000 to her so she could pay a lawyer handling her divorce.
Prosecutor Kendall Day did not identify Thompson by name but said Kontnik approved two bonuses for a personal assistant totaling about $3,800 after taxes and allowed the assistant to keep $1,800.
Kontnik supervised about 40 employees in Campbell’s office beginning in 1995. She resigned on Feb. 20, 2004, two weeks after she was reassigned and days before The Denver Post reported the kickback allegations.
She said at the time that she and Campbell had been discussing her departure for months because she wanted to spend more time with her two children in Colorado and explore other career options.
