Michael O’Donnell’s campaign finance violation fine reduced $12,500 for early payment
Half of Michael O’Donnell’s fine for state campaign finance law violations has been forgiven after he paid $12,500 to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission.
O’Donnell, a former Sedgwick County commissioner, was originally fined $25,000 after admitting in January to nine violations of Kansas campaign finance law, including using campaign money for personal use, false reporting and moving campaign funds into his personal bank account.
The terms of O’Donnell’s consent decree with the ethics commission allowed half of the fine to be forgiven if he paid within 90 days, which he did late last week.
O’Donnell faced a maximum fine of $90,000, but ethics commissioners reduced the fine after he explained that he was out of work and under financial pressure after resigning from the Sedgwick County Commission in November.
It’s not entirely clear what O’Donnell is doing for money. His social media websites still list him as a county commissioner. The Eagle reported in December that he was under consideration for jobs at the Mayflower Clinic and Splurge magazine.
O’Donnell did not respond to requests for comment for this story. A representative at Splurge hung up the phone when asked if O’Donnell worked there. Follow-up calls went straight to voicemail. A Mayflower Clinic coordinator would not say whether O’Donnell works there but took a message on his behalf and said he would call back Wednesday. He did not.
O’Donnell had asked for the penalty to be reduced to below $10,000, which he said was as much as he could get in loans.
The fine payment potentially brings an end to a years-long legal battle for O’Donnell, who was federally indicted in 2018 and stood trial in 2019 for wire fraud and money laundering charges related to misspending $10,500 in campaign funds and trying to cover it up. He was acquitted of most charges. Federal prosecutors asked the court to drop the remaining charges.
In January, O’Donnell admitted to funneling the $10,500 from his campaign accounts to his personal checking account and to four friends, whom he falsely reported as campaign workers, according to a consent decree approved by the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission.
“I understand the desire to levy a huge fine,” O’Donnell said in January. “But I think if you look at the media coverage of this and my federal trial, I’ve paid a huge fine — both through my legal fees, and through my reputation.”
The ethics commission forwarded their findings to the Kansas attorney general and Sedgwick County district attorney. No criminal charges have been filed.
““We recently received the paperwork and will review it,” District Attorney Marc Bennett said in a written statement.
Signing the consent degree was “not an admission by O’Donnell for any purpose other than settlement in this matter,” it says.
The campaign finance violations are the latest round of legal proceedings stemming from O’Donnell’s controversial political career.
In 2012, the state ethics commission fined O’Donnell, who was on the Wichita City Council at the time, $500 for using a government computer to send a campaign email supporting a friend.
O’Donnell resigned in November under pressure from party leaders rather than face ouster proceedings by the Sedgwick County district attorney for his role in a false attack ad against Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple and a subsequent cover-up during the 2019 mayoral race. He lost re-election to Sarah Lopez and is being sued for defamation by Whipple in state court. That lawsuit is ongoing.
This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 12:48 PM.