South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was accused of breaking state ethics, but he never admitted his guilt. Now he has settled these charges by agreeing to pay $74,000 in fines, though pleading not guilty.
Last summer, Gov Sanford was accused of dozens of ethics charges, which included personal use of a state-owned aircraft, approving purchase of four business class commercial airline tickets to visit his mistress in Argentina, squandering about $3,000 campaign contributions, which included expenditure of $900 to attend a Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami, etc.
Of the $74,000, $36,498 are meant for investigative cost, $18,000 for the state Departments of Commerce to recompense for first and business class airfare, $7,792 for the Division of Aeronautics, and $1,003 for personal use of state-owned aircraft. Apart from this, he will also pay $2,941 to his campaign account to compensate for personal use of campaign funds.
The day he settled the ethics case, a family court judge dissolved his 20-year-long marriage.
Sanford has agreed to pay $66,223 as charges to pay for the cost of investigation into his travel, to reimburse the cost of using state aircraft, airline tickets. This also includes the squandered campaign money. Apart from these charges, Sanford faced several other ethics violation charges. The State Ethics Commission filed 37 civil charges against Sanford last year.
Last year, in June, Sanford had left for Argentina for a five-day tour, though he told his staff that he was going hiking on the Appalachian Trail. On his return, he confessed to his extramarital affair.
Though the governor pleaded not guilty, he agreed to pay the amount of $74,000 as fine. Even as the ethics case was settled for the governor, a Charleston County family court judge pronounced dissolution of his 20-year-old marriage with wife Jenny.
Though the charges have been settled, his troubles don’t seem to be ending, as he still can face criminal charges. Still Attorney General Henry McMaster, who requested the ethics investigation, is carrying out the inquiry.
In a statement, the South Carolina governor, who was a potential 2012 presidential candidate, said that he would have been vindicated had the commission heard the case, but he did not want to continue "an endless media circus."
Under the deal, on one hand, the governor does not admit to have violated state ethics laws, but on the other, he does not dispute the allegations.
