March 14, 2007

I believe the saying is something like...

..."a prosecutor can get a ham sandwich indicted," but on this one, I'm willing to bet there's something to the charges: AP NewsBreak: Former Secretary of State Worley indicted

By PHILLIP RAWLS
The Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former Secretary of State Nancy Worley has been indicted by a grand jury on charges stemming from her unsuccessful campaign for re-election last year, her attorney told The Associated Press Wednesday.

Montgomery attorney James Anderson said he received a call from the attorney general's staff informing him that Worley had been indicted on five felony counts and five misdemeanor counts accusing her of soliciting campaign funds from employees in the secretary of state's office. [...]

During Worley's re-election campaign last year, one of her employees, Ed Packard, ran against her in the Democratic primary and filed a complaint with the attorney general's office. The complaint involved Worley sending an envelope to her employees that had a place on the outside for them to mark whether they would like to volunteer in her campaign, post a bumper sticker on their vehicles, or make a contribution.

Anderson said the envelope was accompanied by a letter explaining there would be no retaliation against any employees who didn't support her. "As far as she knows, nobody who worked for her gave to her," he said. [...]

Well, nice try, dude, but the law doesn't seem to give elected officials an out if they say they won't retaliate, or if none of the employees participate--

[...] State law prohibits state officials from soliciting their employees for help in a campaign. Violations can be either a felony or a misdemeanor, with the felony punishable by up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine and a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. [...]

I imagine she'll find a way to settle, since it seems even from her own attorney the solicitation was made, and the defense against the charge seems to be that it's nothing but a politically-motivated charade.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at March 14, 2007 01:01 PM
Comments

It's not as if she didn't have her nose far enough in the trough with those public funded PSA which were nothing more attempts to keep her otherwise forgettable mug (she and Jabba the Hut - separated at birth?) in the public eye.

Her malfeasance in office set new lows even for this state..

Posted by: southtrek at March 14, 2007 02:00 PM

Aside from her slovenly appearance and her general crookedness (traits shared by a majority of our elected officials), she also seems to suffer from a much lower than normal level of brain power. And that's saying something, considering the mental midgets with whom she served down in Mungummry.

Posted by: Terry Oglesby at March 14, 2007 02:34 PM