Ecorse, MICHIGAN

GUILTY PLEA
December 2008 - Douglas Benit, an assistant superintendent in Ecorse until 2003 until he became Superintendent of Willow Run schools, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and bank fraud. He was fired from Willow Run for conflict of interest he had with two companies he owned that did business with the district. His company was awarded $2 million in school contracts.

He was accused of defrauding the Ecorse Public Schools and a federal program out of nearly $7.3 million. There are no charges against Benit stemming from his time as superintendent of Willow Run Community Schools.

The one count of bank fraud was for misrepresenting his income to obtain a $575,000 mortgage to refinance their home in Superior Township and to obtain equity credit lines totaling $300,000. She pleaded guilty in April and was sentenced to one day in jail and three years of supervised release.

SENTENCED
March 27, 2009 - Benit was sentenced to nearly four years in prison.

Ecorse is outside of Detroit. On September 25, 2009, Ecorse Mayor Herbert Worthy and city Controller Erwin Hollenquest were arrested on charges conspiracy, bribery, and fraud. See entry.

Plea agreement and indictment documents.
No political affiliation for the non-partisan office, but Benit's political donations 2000-2004 were to the Republican Congressional Committee.

Greenville, SOUTH CAROLINA

ARRESTED
Greenville County councilman Tony Trout (R) was arrested in October 2008, charged with unauthorized access of computers for planting spyware on Greenville County Administrator Joe Kernell's computer.

CONVICTED
He was convicted by a jury in April 2009 on the charges of unlawful access to computers, distribution of information and intercepting emails. He was found not guilty of destroying evidence.

SENTENCED
November 11, 2009 - He was sentenced to 1 day and 1 year in jail and three years of probation.

He said he wished he would have researched federal laws before doing any of this. He still has his blog on Greenville County corruption online. His bio reveals that he might know a thing or two about laws. He is president of Pro-Teck Security Services and says he has an extensive background in safety and security. Prior to forming his company, Mr. Trout served as a police officer for 13 years.

Madison, WISCONSIN

CHANGE OF VENUE FOR NEW TRIAL SOUGHT
November 11, 2009 - Scott Jensen, (R) former Wisconsin Assembly Speaker, was convicted of felony misconduct in office in 2006 but won a new trial on appeal because, the Wisconsin State Journal wrote: "Jensen was able to convince an appeals court that he should have been able to show his first jury evidence of Democratic actions similar to his." (See Resources below for actual Appeals Court decisions.)

Jensen parked state employees for months in out-state legislative districts to campaign full-time for hand-picked candidates - all on the public's dime, according to fellow workers. One top Assembly aide worked on the state clock as a full-time GOP fundraiser for years, colleagues testified.

The Wisconsin State Journal says he "can't dodge the disgrace".

COMPARE THE ABOVE coverage with this from Channel 3000: Jensen was convicted of "three felonies and one misdemeanor." He was sentenced to 15 months. They cite the reason for overturning the conviction was,

The 4th District Court ruled that a Dane County judge wrongly excluded Jensen's testimony about his understanding of the use of state resources for campaigns.

They go on to explain that Jensen was one of five former legislative leaders found guilty after a lengthy Capitol corruption investigation. Jensen's former aide, Sherry Schultz (R), was also granted a new trial based on the jury instructions. Others convicted include: Senator Former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala (D), Senator Brian Burke (D), Former Assembly Majority Leader Steve Foti (R), and Assistant Majority Leader Bonnie Ladwig (R).

Schultz was given five years' probation and four months of electronic monitoring. Foti was sentenced to 60 days in jail. Ladwig was given 60 days of electronic monitoring. Former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala was sentenced to two years probation and nine months in jail. Senator Brian Burke was sentenced to six months that he served under home confinement for altering subpoenaed documents and for directing aides to campaign on state time. In October 2008, he got his law license reinstated. On Sept. 18, the Supreme Court reinstated the license of former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala.

OUTRAGEOUS
Tanya Bjork, (D) chief of staff to Sen. Brian Burke, pleaded no contest to charges that she altered records and illegally solicited campaign funds in the Capitol. She was ordered to pay a $250 fine and complete 50 hours of community service.

Before she worked for Burke, she worked for the Assembly Democratic Caucus.

She ran Obama's campaign. In January 2009, she was hired to lead the state's federal lobbying effort. She will earn $102,000 a year.

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Resources:
2009 WI APP 26
COURT OF APPEALS OF WISCONSIN PUBLISHED OPINION
Case No.: 2008AP552-CR

Jensen appealed from his conviction and we reversed and remanded for a new trial based on the trial court’s issuing an erroneous jury instruction and wrongfully excluding part of Jensen’s testimony. State v. Jensen, 2007 WI App 256, ¶1, 306 Wis. 2d 572, 743 N.W.2d 468.

Reversal of conviction: 2007 WI APP 256
COURT OF APPEALS OF WISCONSIN PUBLISHED OPINION
Case No.: 2006AP2095-CR

Yorba Linda, CALIFORNIA

Only in California could the vice chairman of the California Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce brag into an open microphone about a having an extramarital affair with a Sempra Energy lobbyist and it's not considered unethical.

Republican Michael Duvall was cleared of any prosecutable offense by the FBI. And Sempra Energy said it has reinstated Lobbyist Heidi Barsuglia as an employee.

Duvall resigned September 9 after a videotape of his comments were broadcast over the internet. He is married with two adult children.

Glasgow, KENTUCKY

INDICTED
Nov 6, 2009 - Former GOP legislator and son of former Kentucky Gov. Louie Nunn, Steve Nunn, was was indicted Tuesday by a Hart County grand jury on six counts of wanton endangerment.

Arraignment is scheduled for November 17.

Nunn is accused of shooting and killing his former girlfriend, 29-year-old Amanda Ross in September 2009.

Nunn ran unsuccessfully for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2003. He lost a bid for re-election to the state House in 2006 after 15 years as a state representative.

In September 2007, Nunn announced his support of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Steve Beshear, a former lieutenant governor. Shortly after, in December, Beshear appointed Nunn as deputy secretary of Health and Family Services. He was put on administrative leave in February after being charged with domestic violence for allegedly slapping Ross. He resigned in March. (Wikipedia entry)

Nunn has pleaded not guilty.

Anchorage, ALASKA

Left to right: Vic Kohring, Tom Anderson, and Pete Kott.

April 15, 2008 - A federal judge denied Alaska state Rep. Vic Kohring (Republican) a new trial. Kohring was convicted of bribery, conspiracy and attempted extortion in October.

The 12-member jury convicted Kohring, a Wasilla Republican, on three of four counts, concluding that he sold his office to the oil-field service company Veco Corp. and former executives Bill Allen and Rick Smith, who pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy and cooperated with the government.

Jurors found that he conspired with Allen and Smith to push a new oil tax favored by North Slope oil producers through the Legislature in 2006, tried to extort them to pay his $17,000 credit card debt, and took bribes from them.

Kohring was sentenced May 8 to 42 months in prison.

His defense attorney, John Henry Browne, likened Kohring to longtime TV hero Andy Griffith. ... The prosecution jumped on the Andy Griffith metaphor, saying Vic Kohring "may be an Andy Griffith but Andy Griffith never took cash bribes."

"What you saw here was a big guy who was politely corrupt. It doesn't make him any less corrupt because he doesn't swear," said U.S. Attorney Joe Bottini, who was comparing Kohring to convicted former Alaska House Speaker Pete Kott.

Kohring was the third person convicted by a jury in the government's wide-ranging corruption scandal. Juries took about the same amount of time to convict the first two, ex-Reps. Tom Anderson and Pete Kott, both Republicans.

Tom Anderson (Republican) was elected to the House: 2002, 2004.
He is married to Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, who was not implicated in the corruption.
Anderson was convicted July 9 of three counts of money laundering, two counts of extortion and a count each of bribery and conspiracy. Anderson was sentenced to five years in prison.

Pete Kott (Republican)was elected to the House: 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004.
Kott was convicted in September 2007 of bribery, conspiracy and extortion for his role in advocating an oil tax pushed by Veco Corp. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky.

On the eve of his scheduled appearance before a special grand jury, [Kentucky] Gov. Ernie Fletcher issued blanket pardons to members of his administration who have been charged -- as well as those who could be indicted later -- in the state hiring investigation.

That's Republican governor Ernie Fletcher.

Miami, FLORIDA

Suspended Miami commissioner, Arthur Teele, was found guilty of threatening a public official and was sentenced to two years probation. He is under investigation for fraud as well as taking kickbacks while he was head of the city's community redevelopment agency. Removed from office in September, he attempted suicide in the lobby of the Miami Herald. His "troubles" included federal charges for money laundering and mail and wire fraud.

One possible reason for his attempted suicide:

A lengthy cover story that consumes much of tomorrow's edition of Miami New Times accuses Teele of being involved with drug traffic, bribery, extortion and sex with multiple mistresses and male prostitutes. Reporter Francisco Alvarado, who wrote the story, said it was primarily a compliation of prior media reports and new information revealed during discovery for Teele's pending trial.

However, the Miami Herald looks to be a day late. The Miami New Times already has the story up.

More on Tealle. Here
Here

UPDATE: Teele died on arrival at the hospital. And in a bizarre note, the Miami Herald fired the reporter Teele had talked to shortly before his death, ostensibly because the journalist had taped the conversation, which is against the law. Even more bizarre, the Miami Herald send a sort of sympathy card to their readers.

FOR THE RECORD, Teele was a Republican, although, inexplicably, few stories say so.

Philadelphia PENNSYLVANIA

A former Philadelphia mayor is charged with taking kickbacks, kickbacks."

And in case you think he's a Democrat, the AP wants you to know otherwise.

LeBlanc, a Republican, was among five people, including insurance broker Herbert H. Bagley and former borough administer Anthony Biondi, named in indictments Tuesday.

Funny, though, how no other story about corruption is so unambiguous about a political affliliation.

The case sprang from wiretaps obtained in the 2002 drug probe of a former councilman, Ernest "Scotty" Scott, who is now serving time for running a drug ring with his adult sons, county prosecutor Bruce Castor said.

Details of Scott case. Link
Scott a Republican. "Scott joined the council as a Republican." Link