South Carolina House Speaker pleads guilty to misconduct in office, resigns

[YoungDemCA]

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Bobby Harrell, speaker of the South Carolina House since 2005, pleaded guilty to six counts of use of campaign funds for personal expenses on Thursday morning and has agreed to resign immediately from his House seat.

In a plea hearing at the Richland County courthouse, Harrell was given six one-year prison sentences but all were suspended by circuit court Judge Casey Manning after Harrell, 58, agreed to the following conditions in a written plea agreement:

- Harrell agrees not to seek or hold public office for three years. He also will be on probation during that time. The Charleston Republican was first elected to the House in 1993.

- Harrell will pay a $30,000 fine plus an additional $93,958 to the general fund of South Carolina. Harrell will also turn over all of his remaining campaign account to the state's general fund. That amount was not immediately available.

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/10/23/3929387/s-carolina-house-speaker-harrell.html#storylink=cpy

[randys1]

1. Another in an endless list of republican criminals...who was it that said the entire conservative

existence was a con game?

Someone famous from that side.

We know WI Governor is guilty of this shit, sure wish he would get justice.

[sadoldgirl]

2. It is infuriating that

all of these corrupt Repugs never have to go to prison, while Siegelman has still not be pardoned!

[Fred Sanders]

3. Breach of public trust should have a minimum term of imprisonment, it strikes at the heart of

democracy...what happened to the concept of deterrence?

[gratuitous]

4. Deterrence?

Isn't it enough that a well-connected white guy is going to be in the equivalent of the penalty box for three whole years, unable to hold elective office or even run? Weep for poor Bobby, weep I say!

Of course, if he gets the itch to get back on the South Carolina political gravy train before 2018, I'm confident that the Supreme Court will uphold his untrammeled right to seek public office due to some First Amendment considerations that went undetected until such a time as Justice Scalia trained his fine legal eye on the Constitution.

[lpbk2713]

5. His fellow rethuglicans will swear he only did one thing wrong.

He allowed himself to get caught.