AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Ethics Commission on Wednesday decided against imposing additional penalties on a former Alfred lawmaker who is serving a six-month jail sentence for misusing public Clean Election funds during his 2010 campaign.
The five-member commission determined that David R. Burns already is receiving sufficient punishment for his actions in the form of a six-month jail sentence for misdemeanor theft and forgery charges, one year of administrative release after his jail sentence and $2,384 that he’ll have to pay in restitution.
“That’s a pretty significant sentence on a misdemeanor,” said Walter McKee, the ethics commission chairman, who is also a criminal defense lawyer. “With someone with no record, it’s almost unheard of.”
The five-member commission was considering whether to impose any civil penalties on Burns, a Republican who resigned from his seat in the Maine House in January after the campaign violations came to light.
Burns, a first-time legislator who was elected in 2010, was found through a Maine Ethics Commission audit to have co-mingled campaign finances with personal finances, falsified receipts, used public money for personal expenses and inaccurately report expenditures.
Burns had qualified for $9,066 in public campaign funds under the Maine Clean Election Act.
His lawyer, Bill Logan, told commission members Wednesday that a civil penalty was unnecessary. The former lawmaker likely will already have difficulty finding the money to pay restitution and finding employment after his jail sentence, he said.
I agree, that no more penalties should apply, considering John Edwards is walking Scot Free.
Edwards didn’t steal anything, he just made a fool of himself.
yeah right
Speaker of the House stole more than $2 million of taxpayer dollars, he got off scott free
And his GOP/Tea Party colleagues actually elected him (Nutting) to be the Speaker of Maine’s House of representatives! My advice to Mr. Burns relating to getting a job when he gets out is to change his name to LePage. Then he could forget about having to be elected to a government position. With “LePage Credentials” he’d get that government job without having to interview in competition with others, being vetted in any way, or having any relevant skills.
Republicans = Voter Fraud
Dems = Acorn
Acorn = doesn’t exist anymore, try something new….
Did you call him a lawmaker? You surely must have meant lawbreaker. BDN, please avoid these kinds of typos in the future. You have a reputation to uphold.