Tom Noe federal money laundering trial to start on July 24
Michigan
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Former GOP fund-raiser and one-time Republican appointee Tom Noe will stand trial on political money-laundering charges just three months before Ohio's most contested statewide elections in more than a decade.
U.S. District Judge David Katz set the trial for July 24. Attorneys expect the trial to last five days.
Mr. Noe has been charged with three felony counts related to allegations that he laundered $45,400 into President Bush's re-election campaign using two dozen people as "conduits" to make illegal contributions at a $2,000-a-seat fund-raiser in Columbus in 2003.
Mr. Noe, who is facing 53 unrelated felony counts in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges and is free on $350,000 bond.
For years Mr. Noe was a star of the Republican Party, pouring money into campaigns, holding fund-raisers, and accepting prominent appointments. His precipitous fall has added hope to Democrats who have been shut out of the state's top offices since 1994.
Mr. Noe's problems have spawned a chain reaction: Gov. Bob Taft and four aides have been convicted of ethics violations relating to Mr. Noe and others are under investigation.
The trial, if not delayed, would take place as candidates for governor, attorney general, auditor, and other posts are scouring the state, attending chicken dinners and county fairs.
It could increase the already heightened "negative" awareness of Mr. Noe and the Republican Party, said Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party.
"People know who Tom Noe is," he said. "It's a negative association."
But Republicans, who no longer support someone who was once one of their best allies, say Mr. Noe's trial will have no affect on voters or on their campaign plans.
"The Republican Party has moved beyond Tom Noe," said John McClelland, spokesman for the Ohio Republican Party. "Tom Noe can deal with his own problems."
Attorneys and prosecutors held a teleconference with Judge Katz yesterday morning to set a trial date.
Mr. Noe was indicted in October on charges that he exceeded federal campaign limits, that he "knowingly and willfully" used others to make the contributions, and that he caused the Bush campaign to file a false campaign finance statement.
The U.S. attorney's office has charged that Mr. Noe used two dozen people as "conduits" to make illegal campaign contributions at the Columbus fund-raiser.
The alleged conduits include Toledo City Councilman Betty Shultz, Lucas County Commissioner Maggie Thurber, former Toledo mayor Donna Owens, and former state representative Sally Perz.
Mr. Noe allegedly sought out the conduits in order to honor a pledge to raise $50,000 for the Oct. 30, 2003, fund-raiser. The Bush campaign later named Mr. Noe a campaign "Pioneer" for raising at least $100,000 overall.
Prosecutors have said the Noe case is the largest campaign money-laundering scheme prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department since new campaign finance laws were enacted by Congress in 2002.
Mr. Noe has been the focus of several state and federal investigations since The Blade revealed in April that he managed $50 million in two rare coin funds for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.
Auditors believe he owes the state more than $13.5 million for losses incurred by the funds while prosecutors allege he stole and laundered more than $3 million.
Meanwhile, no date has been set in his Lucas County theft, forgery, and racketeering case. The next hearing in that case is Friday.
If convicted on the federal charges, Mr. Noe could face as many as five years in a federal penitentiary for each count and a fine of nearly $1 million. Attorneys say a conviction, however, would result in a shorter prison term.
U.S. marshals would likely work with Lucas County and state officials to make Mr. Noe available for a trial if he were incarcerated in the federal prison system at the time of his state trial, said Bill Edwards, first assistant U.S. attorney in Cleveland.
If convicted in Lucas County, Mr. Noe could be sentenced to serve his time concurrently with any federal time, with the balance being served in an Ohio prison.
U.S. District Judge David Katz set the trial for July 24. Attorneys expect the trial to last five days.
Mr. Noe has been charged with three felony counts related to allegations that he laundered $45,400 into President Bush's re-election campaign using two dozen people as "conduits" to make illegal contributions at a $2,000-a-seat fund-raiser in Columbus in 2003.
Mr. Noe, who is facing 53 unrelated felony counts in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges and is free on $350,000 bond.
For years Mr. Noe was a star of the Republican Party, pouring money into campaigns, holding fund-raisers, and accepting prominent appointments. His precipitous fall has added hope to Democrats who have been shut out of the state's top offices since 1994.
Mr. Noe's problems have spawned a chain reaction: Gov. Bob Taft and four aides have been convicted of ethics violations relating to Mr. Noe and others are under investigation.
The trial, if not delayed, would take place as candidates for governor, attorney general, auditor, and other posts are scouring the state, attending chicken dinners and county fairs.
It could increase the already heightened "negative" awareness of Mr. Noe and the Republican Party, said Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party.
"People know who Tom Noe is," he said. "It's a negative association."
But Republicans, who no longer support someone who was once one of their best allies, say Mr. Noe's trial will have no affect on voters or on their campaign plans.
"The Republican Party has moved beyond Tom Noe," said John McClelland, spokesman for the Ohio Republican Party. "Tom Noe can deal with his own problems."
Attorneys and prosecutors held a teleconference with Judge Katz yesterday morning to set a trial date.
Mr. Noe was indicted in October on charges that he exceeded federal campaign limits, that he "knowingly and willfully" used others to make the contributions, and that he caused the Bush campaign to file a false campaign finance statement.
The U.S. attorney's office has charged that Mr. Noe used two dozen people as "conduits" to make illegal campaign contributions at the Columbus fund-raiser.
The alleged conduits include Toledo City Councilman Betty Shultz, Lucas County Commissioner Maggie Thurber, former Toledo mayor Donna Owens, and former state representative Sally Perz.
Mr. Noe allegedly sought out the conduits in order to honor a pledge to raise $50,000 for the Oct. 30, 2003, fund-raiser. The Bush campaign later named Mr. Noe a campaign "Pioneer" for raising at least $100,000 overall.
Prosecutors have said the Noe case is the largest campaign money-laundering scheme prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department since new campaign finance laws were enacted by Congress in 2002.
Mr. Noe has been the focus of several state and federal investigations since The Blade revealed in April that he managed $50 million in two rare coin funds for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.
Auditors believe he owes the state more than $13.5 million for losses incurred by the funds while prosecutors allege he stole and laundered more than $3 million.
Meanwhile, no date has been set in his Lucas County theft, forgery, and racketeering case. The next hearing in that case is Friday.
If convicted on the federal charges, Mr. Noe could face as many as five years in a federal penitentiary for each count and a fine of nearly $1 million. Attorneys say a conviction, however, would result in a shorter prison term.
U.S. marshals would likely work with Lucas County and state officials to make Mr. Noe available for a trial if he were incarcerated in the federal prison system at the time of his state trial, said Bill Edwards, first assistant U.S. attorney in Cleveland.
If convicted in Lucas County, Mr. Noe could be sentenced to serve his time concurrently with any federal time, with the balance being served in an Ohio prison.
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