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Ex-Ohio official pleads guilty to charges
By Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Associated Press Writer | June 7, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio --A former top official at the Ohio workers' compensation fund pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking kickbacks from brokers and others who wanted to handle the fund's investments.
Terrence Gasper, the former chief financial officer, was charged in a scandal that has shaken the state's Republican-dominated government and led to ethics charges against Gov. Bob Taft, who pleaded no contest to failing to report gifts.
Gasper, 59, pleaded guilty in federal court in Akron to racketeering and in state court to laundering money and failing to report gifts. He could get up to seven years and three months in the federal case and up to 5 1/2 years in state prison. But his sentencing was put off until he is through assisting the government investigation.
Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said he expects more people to be charged this month. Gasper said he was "more than willing" to help prosecutors.
The former official acknowledged that he accepted tuition for his son and stays at a Florida condominium in exchange for business deals with the Workers' Compensation Bureau, which has a $15 billion investment fund.
He also said he accepted $25,000 from Tom Noe, a coin dealer and prominent GOP donor who was hired by the bureau to oversee an investment in rare coins.
The coin investment turned into a major embarrassment for the Republican Party months ago when some of the money was discovered missing.
Noe pleaded guilty last month to illegally funneling about $45,000 to President Bush's re-election campaign. He is awaiting trial on state charges of embezzling more than $1 million from the coin fund.
The gifts Gasper is accused of receiving and not reporting include travel, meals and sports tickets.
The money involved in Gasper's dealings totals between $20 million and $50 million, which could include everything from profit earned by brokers who received contracts steered to them by Gasper to the cost of the Florida condominium, said U.S. Attorney Greg White of Cleveland.
By Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Associated Press Writer | June 7, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio --A former top official at the Ohio workers' compensation fund pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking kickbacks from brokers and others who wanted to handle the fund's investments.
Terrence Gasper, the former chief financial officer, was charged in a scandal that has shaken the state's Republican-dominated government and led to ethics charges against Gov. Bob Taft, who pleaded no contest to failing to report gifts.
Gasper, 59, pleaded guilty in federal court in Akron to racketeering and in state court to laundering money and failing to report gifts. He could get up to seven years and three months in the federal case and up to 5 1/2 years in state prison. But his sentencing was put off until he is through assisting the government investigation.
Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said he expects more people to be charged this month. Gasper said he was "more than willing" to help prosecutors.
The former official acknowledged that he accepted tuition for his son and stays at a Florida condominium in exchange for business deals with the Workers' Compensation Bureau, which has a $15 billion investment fund.
He also said he accepted $25,000 from Tom Noe, a coin dealer and prominent GOP donor who was hired by the bureau to oversee an investment in rare coins.
The coin investment turned into a major embarrassment for the Republican Party months ago when some of the money was discovered missing.
Noe pleaded guilty last month to illegally funneling about $45,000 to President Bush's re-election campaign. He is awaiting trial on state charges of embezzling more than $1 million from the coin fund.
The gifts Gasper is accused of receiving and not reporting include travel, meals and sports tickets.
The money involved in Gasper's dealings totals between $20 million and $50 million, which could include everything from profit earned by brokers who received contracts steered to them by Gasper to the cost of the Florida condominium, said U.S. Attorney Greg White of Cleveland.