Bar lawyer acquitted over liquor agent gifts

COLUMBUS (AP) -- A lawyer who gave free gas cards to 11 state liquor agency employees for Christmas in 2003 has been acquitted of charges of improper compensation.
A jury in Franklin County Municipal Court found Eugene Stevens of Cleveland innocent of 10 ethics charges Friday. His lawyer, Bill Meeks, had argued that Stevens sent the cards, worth $25 and $50, as thank-you gifts and did not expect anything in return.
Stevens and another lawyer charged last year with similar violations, George Bernard Harris, represented various bars, restaurants and other businesses regulated by the state Division of Liquor Control. State law generally prohibits regulators from accepting anything of value from those they monitor.