Gov. Bob Taft (seen here handing out blue ribbons at the Ohio State Fair in August 2005)  (Photo: AP ) On Aug. 18, 2005, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft pleaded no contest 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. The gifts that he failed to report included dinners, golf games and professional hockey tickets. Prosecutors say the gifts, received over a period of four years, were worth about $5,800. Taft earlier had revealed that he failed to report some outings but said the omissions were accidental. Taft, 63, nearing the end of his second and final term, is the first governor in Ohio history to be charged with a crime.