Monday, March 12, 2012 4:16:44 AM
S. Carolina lt. gov. quits, pleads guilty to ethics charges
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Lt. Gov. Kenneth Ard, far right, appear at her State of the State address to the joint session of the Legislature in January.
By Mary Ann Chastain, AP
By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY
March 9, 2012
South Carolina Lt. Gov. Kenneth Ard resigned today, hours before he was indicted on ethics charges. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation and community service.
Update at 5:43 p.m. ET: Under terms of the South Carolina Constitution, Glenn McConnell, president pro tem of the state Senate, gives up his powerful position to assume the largely ceremonial post of lieutenant governor.
Update at 5:15 p.m. ET: Ard has pleaded guilty to guilty to four counts of unlawful reimbursement of campaign funds, two counts of failure to report on campaign documents and one count of using campaign funds for personal use. He was sentenced to five years probation and 300 hours of community service, and fined $5,000. A one-year jail term was suspended, conditioned on completing probation.
He choked up as he apologized to his wife and three children, and said the people of South Carolina deserved better from him, The State [ http://www.thestate.com/2012/03/09/2184580/attorney-general-to-hold-press.html ] newspaper says.
Ard has already paid a $48,000 ethics fine after being hit by 107 counts of allegedly using campaign funds to pay for a family vacation, iPads, a flat-screen television, clothes, meals and a trip to the SEC Football Championship Game in December of 2010
Original post: South Carolina Lt. Gov. Kenneth Ard was indicted on ethic charges today [ http://www.wltx.com/news/article/178051/2/Ken-Ard-Indicted-on-7-Ethics-Violations- ] only hours after he resigned, WLTX reports.
Ard, who was elected in 2010, has been accused of using campaign funds to buy personal items like hotel tickets and flat-screen TVs.
Update at 2:32 p.m. ET: Ard, a Republican businessman, was indicted on seven ethics violations over what the attorney general calls the creation of a fictitious campaign, the Columbia, S.C., TV station reports.
He is charged with four counts of unlawful reimbursement of campaign contributions; two counts of falsely filing campaign reports; and one count encompassing multiple acts of personal use of campaign funds.
State Attorney General Alan Wilson says Ard created a scheme during his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 2010 to create "the false appearance of a groundswell of political support through fictitious or bogus campaign contributions."
The attorney general alleges Ard funneled $75,000 to other people, then had them donate that money back to his campaign to make it seem as if donors were lining up to give to his campaign when they, in fact, were not, WLTX's Tony Santaella reports.
Wilson also says $87,000 in "phantom contributions" were part of the scheme. Investigators believe the contributions were either never made by the person listed or not made in the amount reported.
These campaign donations were reported to the State Ethics Commission, which certified them as true, and they were publicly listed.
"They were not true and correct," Wilson clarifies. "Campaign transparency was in reality campaign deceit."
READ: Full indictment of Lt. Gov. Ken Ard [ http://www.wltx.com/assetpool/documents/120309013509_Read-the-Full-Ken-Ard-Indictment.pdf ]
The 48-year-old Republican submitted his resignation to Gov. Nikki Haley and the state Senate leadership in the face of a state grand jury report into his campaign finances, The Greenville (S.C.) News reports.
"To all of the above and more, I owe a great apology," Ard said in a statement. "During my campaign, it was my responsibility to make sure things were done correctly. I did not do that. There are no excuses, nor is there need to share blame. It is my fault that the events of the past year have taken place."
Haley released a statement today thanking Ard for his service and wishing him and his family "all the best going forward."
Last July, state Attorney General Alan Wilson said he had referred ethics allegations that resulted from a probe by the State Ethics Commission to the state grand jury.
Wilson and State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel have scheduled a news conference today at 1 p.m. ET.
Ard's ethics trouble began shortly after he was elected in 2010, WLTX reports.
The state grand jury began investigating Ard in July. He has already paid a $48,000 ethics fine after being hit by 107 counts of allegedly using campaign funds to pay for a family vacation, iPads, a flat-screen television, clothes, meals and a trip to the SEC Football Championship Game in December of 2010, WLTX notes.
In a consent order [ http://www.wltx.com/assetpool/documents/120309115658_Ken-Ard-signed-consent-order-57.pdf ], the Ethics Commission issued a public reprimand to Ard, a businessman, and ordered him to also reimburse the commission $12,500 for investigative and administrative costs and to reimburse his campaign $12,121 "for personal use of campaign funds," records show.
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Related
Probation for men who drove with friend's corpse to bars
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Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
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South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Lt. Gov. Kenneth Ard, far right, appear at her State of the State address to the joint session of the Legislature in January.
By Mary Ann Chastain, AP
By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY
March 9, 2012
South Carolina Lt. Gov. Kenneth Ard resigned today, hours before he was indicted on ethics charges. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation and community service.
Update at 5:43 p.m. ET: Under terms of the South Carolina Constitution, Glenn McConnell, president pro tem of the state Senate, gives up his powerful position to assume the largely ceremonial post of lieutenant governor.
Update at 5:15 p.m. ET: Ard has pleaded guilty to guilty to four counts of unlawful reimbursement of campaign funds, two counts of failure to report on campaign documents and one count of using campaign funds for personal use. He was sentenced to five years probation and 300 hours of community service, and fined $5,000. A one-year jail term was suspended, conditioned on completing probation.
He choked up as he apologized to his wife and three children, and said the people of South Carolina deserved better from him, The State [ http://www.thestate.com/2012/03/09/2184580/attorney-general-to-hold-press.html ] newspaper says.
Ard has already paid a $48,000 ethics fine after being hit by 107 counts of allegedly using campaign funds to pay for a family vacation, iPads, a flat-screen television, clothes, meals and a trip to the SEC Football Championship Game in December of 2010
Original post: South Carolina Lt. Gov. Kenneth Ard was indicted on ethic charges today [ http://www.wltx.com/news/article/178051/2/Ken-Ard-Indicted-on-7-Ethics-Violations- ] only hours after he resigned, WLTX reports.
Ard, who was elected in 2010, has been accused of using campaign funds to buy personal items like hotel tickets and flat-screen TVs.
Update at 2:32 p.m. ET: Ard, a Republican businessman, was indicted on seven ethics violations over what the attorney general calls the creation of a fictitious campaign, the Columbia, S.C., TV station reports.
He is charged with four counts of unlawful reimbursement of campaign contributions; two counts of falsely filing campaign reports; and one count encompassing multiple acts of personal use of campaign funds.
State Attorney General Alan Wilson says Ard created a scheme during his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 2010 to create "the false appearance of a groundswell of political support through fictitious or bogus campaign contributions."
The attorney general alleges Ard funneled $75,000 to other people, then had them donate that money back to his campaign to make it seem as if donors were lining up to give to his campaign when they, in fact, were not, WLTX's Tony Santaella reports.
Wilson also says $87,000 in "phantom contributions" were part of the scheme. Investigators believe the contributions were either never made by the person listed or not made in the amount reported.
These campaign donations were reported to the State Ethics Commission, which certified them as true, and they were publicly listed.
"They were not true and correct," Wilson clarifies. "Campaign transparency was in reality campaign deceit."
READ: Full indictment of Lt. Gov. Ken Ard [ http://www.wltx.com/assetpool/documents/120309013509_Read-the-Full-Ken-Ard-Indictment.pdf ]
The 48-year-old Republican submitted his resignation to Gov. Nikki Haley and the state Senate leadership in the face of a state grand jury report into his campaign finances, The Greenville (S.C.) News reports.
"To all of the above and more, I owe a great apology," Ard said in a statement. "During my campaign, it was my responsibility to make sure things were done correctly. I did not do that. There are no excuses, nor is there need to share blame. It is my fault that the events of the past year have taken place."
Haley released a statement today thanking Ard for his service and wishing him and his family "all the best going forward."
Last July, state Attorney General Alan Wilson said he had referred ethics allegations that resulted from a probe by the State Ethics Commission to the state grand jury.
Wilson and State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel have scheduled a news conference today at 1 p.m. ET.
Ard's ethics trouble began shortly after he was elected in 2010, WLTX reports.
The state grand jury began investigating Ard in July. He has already paid a $48,000 ethics fine after being hit by 107 counts of allegedly using campaign funds to pay for a family vacation, iPads, a flat-screen television, clothes, meals and a trip to the SEC Football Championship Game in December of 2010, WLTX notes.
In a consent order [ http://www.wltx.com/assetpool/documents/120309115658_Ken-Ard-signed-consent-order-57.pdf ], the Ethics Commission issued a public reprimand to Ard, a businessman, and ordered him to also reimburse the commission $12,500 for investigative and administrative costs and to reimburse his campaign $12,121 "for personal use of campaign funds," records show.
*
Related
Probation for men who drove with friend's corpse to bars
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/03/probation-for-men-who-drove-with-friends-corpse-to-bars/1 [(linked in) http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=67178583 and preceding (and any future following); http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=67189440 and following].
*
Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/03/top-sc-official-resigns-amid-campaign-finance-probe/1 [with comments]
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Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
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