And there’s a New Hampshire connection…
(Hot Air) In a plea agreement that was unsealed today (PDF), a former chief executive officer of red-light camera company Redflex has pleaded guilty to bribing Columbus and Cincinnati elected officials. Karen Finley, the former CEO, was pressed by Democratic officials in both cities to make campaign contributions in exchange for giving Redflex the contract to install and maintain red-light cameras in the cities.
According to the plea agreement, the company, at Finley’s urging, would pay the contributions to a “consultant” for services never rendered and the consultant would then pass the money on to the campaigns either by direct donation or by using additional straw donors. $30,000 was passed through this way in 2007. Then in 2009, a donation of $5,000 was given to the Franklin County Democratic Party this way. Again in 2011, a donation of $20,000—referred to as a “success fee”—was made to the Ohio Democratic Party.
Ohio State Party Chair David Pepper is a regional director on the Association of Democrat State Party Chairs (ASDC). New Hampshire Democrat party chair Ray Buckley is the president of that Association.
