'No Contest' Plea For Ohio Gov.

(CBS/AP)  Ohio Governor Bob Taft says he hasn't lived up to the high expectations he has of all state workers. He pleaded no contest Thursday to charges that he broke state ethics law by failing to report golf outings and other gifts. A judge found him guilty and fined him $4,000.

Taft told Franklin County Municipal Judge Mark Froehlich 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, adding, "In this instance, I have failed to live up to those high expectations."

The judge ordered him to apologize to state residents.

"From the shores of Lake Erie to the banks of the Ohio River, I want them to know that you are sorry for what you have done," Froehlich said.

A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but means the defendant will not fight the charges. After Taft entered the plea, Froehlich found him guilty, a routine step in Ohio in no contest pleas.

Defense attorney Williams Meeks said Taft has repaid people for the gifts.

Taft was charged Wednesday with failing to report 52 gifts worth nearly $6,000, including dinners, golf games and professional hockey tickets over four years. 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.

State law requires officeholders to report all gifts worth more than $75 if the donor wasn't reimbursed. The Ohio Ethics Commission last week concluded its investigation into Taft's golf outings and forwarded the results to prosecutors.

A state task force and the commission are investigating public employees for similar offenses and O'Brien has said he expected more serious felony charges to be brought, although not against Taft.

The alleged ethics violations against Taft are another blow to the GOP in the Republican-controlled state that won President Bush re-election. Democrats have found hope for the 2006 midterm elections in the investment scandal and a surprisingly close congressional race this month for an open seat in a GOP stronghold.

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