13ABC.COM
The former chief financial officer of the scandal-ridden Bureau of Workers' Compensation was sentenced Wednesday to five years and four months in prison for his role in an investment scandal that was blamed in part for the GOP's political losses in last November's election.
Terrence Gasper, 60, pleaded guilty last June to accepting bribes in exchange for doling out agency investment business. He could have been sentenced to a maximum 20 years in prison but got less in exchange for testifying against others involved in the scandal....
....Gasper was fined $60,405, the value of his stays at a Florida condominium and other bribes he received in exchange for providing agency business....
....Others have pleaded guilty in the investment scandal, including Clarke Blizzard, an investment marketer who admitted to conspiring to bribe Gasper. He was sentenced last week to three years and one month in prison.
More than $300 million in losses were reported at the bureau, and the investigation reached all the way to former Gov. Bob Taft, who pleaded no contest to charges that he failed to report golf outings and other gifts on his disclosure forms. Taft was fined $4,000.
A state audit released in March cited mismanagement and a lack of oversight as the keys to the scandal at the agency. The report by Auditor Mary Taylor's office also found during the review of operations for 2005 and 2006 that some key financial documents had been destroyed.
I'm sure I speak for many Ohioans when I say that we'll be paying for the losses, screw ups, and scandals from the last Republican administration for a long, long time.