Lobbyists agree to penalties in ethics case
Two well-known Oklahoma lobbyists will not face criminal charges for their involvement in a PAC that made illegal donations totaling $27,750.
Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater made the decision not to prosecute in light of their agreements with t he Oklahoma Ethics Commission to pay substantial penalties to the state.
James Milner agreed to pay $65,000 to the state general
revenue fund and never again to serve as an officer of a PAC.
James McSpadden agreed to pay $50,000 and not serve as an officer of a PAC for 10 years.
Milner was listed as the chair of the little-known PAC and Milner was listed as its treasurer.
Funding for the PAC— Oklahomans For Healthy Living—came from companies tied to a Missouri holding company, an Ethics Commission investigation found.
Milner was a lobbyist for the main company, JES Holdings LLC.
The Ethics Commission approved the settlements Dec. 31. In an announcement last week, the Ethics Commission said the PAC acted as a “straw man” that accepted and then distributed illegal corporate contributions.
The PAC also failed to report any of the funding it received and only one of the donations it made.
In signing the settlements, both Milner and McSpadden acknowledged that the PAC “served as a straw donor to hide the true source of contributions to Oklahoma political committees and failed to file reports disclosing the corporate source of the contributions.”
Mil ne rt old the Ethics Commission in 2019 that even though McSpadden was listed as the PAC's treasurer, McSpadden did not have possession of the PAC's checkbook and “had no knowledge of the contributions made to or from the PAC at any time.”
The Ethics Commission in its announcement confirmed McSpadden “di d not have actual access” to the PAC's financial records and accounts.
The Ethics Commission said the DA's decision not to file charges “has been made independently and separate” from the settlement agreements.
Playing into the DA's decision was that the lobbyists eventually cooperated in the ethics investigation and they self-reported to his office that they were being investigated, The Oklahoman was told.
Milner is relieved to have this episode behind him and accepts the outcome, his attorney, Jonathan Buxton, told the Tulsa World last week.
The agreement “is a painful but acceptable end to his cooperation with this investigation of the Ethics Commission,” the attorney said.
Mc Spadden said he was asked to allow his name to be used as PAC treasurer “without fully understanding what was expected of me.”
“Significant errors were made that I now understand,” he said in a statement sent by his attorney. “I regret deeply that my lack of understanding responsibilities in the role l ed to this outcome. I have accepted responsibility for my unintentional errors related to this matter and have learned a hard, but valuable lesson.”
Mc Spadden also made a joint statement with the Ethics Commission about the settlement.
“It is easy to approach campaigns, and the laws that apply to them, as little more than a game due to the competitive nature of politics,” McSpadden and the Ethics Commission said. “Campaign finance laws are not rules of a game. They are vital to protecting the sanctity of our electoral system.
“The Commission's underfunding and lack of resources is well known. This increases the likelihood that violations of the Ethics Rules will occur. While significant penalties are a part of this settlement, those funds by law go to the General Revenue Fund of Oklahoma and not to fund the Ethics Commission.”