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Ex-Dann aides fined for ethics violations
By MARC KOVAC
COLUMBUS
Former Attorney General Marc Dann’s chief of staff and communications manager were fined Thursday for ethics charges that surfaced as part of the scandal that led to Dann’s eventual resignation.
Edgar Simpson will have to pay $1,000 for failing to disclose income on a required state ethics form, and Leo Jennings will pay $2,000 for failing to properly file forms and accepting improper compensation while working in the attorney general’s office.
Both received suspended jail sentences, and Jennings will have to complete 250 hours of community service as part of his punishment.
Both also have committed to assisting in future investigations that could lead to further criminal charges against others.
“The investigation is ongoing and continues to be,” said David Freel, Ohio Ethics Commission director. “And we expect full cooperation of all the parties that have entered pleas or been found guilty by the court at this point in time. We’ve made the prosecutor informed of all of the facts in our investigation and are working jointly with the prosecutor. So we’ll see what the final outcome of the case is.”
The complaints against Jennings and Simpson were filed earlier this week by the commission, which has been investigating Dann and his former underlings for nearly two years.
The situation was prompted by sexual-harassment allegations brought by two women in the attorney general’s office against Anthony Gutierrez, a manager hand-picked by Dann. As a result, Gutierrez and Jennings were fired, and Simpson was forced to resign.
Gutierrez was the first to face criminal charges in the scandal, pleading guilty in August to six criminal counts as part of a deal with prosecutors. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail, served in weekend increments.
Dann has vehemently denied criminal wrongdoing. He earlier was fined by the Ohio Elections Commission for using campaign funds to install a security system and for family travel but avoided a criminal referral in the matter.
Jennings was charged with one count of receiving improper compensation — more than $15,000 in payments from Dann’s campaign and transition accounts — and for providing improper compensation to another Dann aide, Anthony Guitierrez, according to documents.
The charge is connected to funds used to pay for an apartment that Jennings, Dann and Gutierrez shared in Columbus.
The three agreed that they did not have enough income to afford living expenses in Columbus and agreed to use Dann transition funds to pay the rent, Freel said.