#2 Official in Nevada (R) and supposed Reid challenger INDICTED

[Bluebear]

LAS VEGAS — Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, the first major Republican to announce a challenge to Senator Harry Reid in 2010, was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday on four counts of fraud related to his handling of public money as state treasurer.

Mr. Krolicki, 47, is accused of two counts of misappropriation and falsification of accounts by a public officer and two counts of misappropriation by a treasurer.

The case, filed in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, stems from accusations that Mr. Krolicki, who was elected lieutenant governor in 2006, circumvented reporting rules in handling money earned by the state from its contracts with Upromise Inc., a company that creates college savings accounts. These charges follow an audit of the $3.7 billion Nevada College Savings Program requested by Mr. Krolicki’s successor as treasurer, Kate Marshall, a Democrat...

Mr. Krolicki denied the charges on Wednesday and said they had been orchestrated by the attorney general, Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, to scuttle his effort to take on Mr. Reid, the Senate Democratic leader.


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/us/04nevada.html?ref=us