Judge to plead guilty to campaign finance charges
Franklin County Court of Appeals Judge Timothy Horton soon will appear in a courtroom other than his own to plead guilty to criminal charges.
The Ohio Elections Commission unanimously referred Horton for prosecution on Thursday on three counts of filing inaccurate campaign finance reports.
It was not clear when the misdemeanor charges will be filed in Franklin County Municipal Court.
Lawyers for Horton and Matthew Donahue, an assistant attorney general appointed as special prosecutor in the case, agreed to the elections commission’s action as part of a plea agreement.
Horton is charged with making “excessive and unreasonable” purchases of expensive meals and cigars in 2014, with two of the three expenses coming after he learned he would be unopposed for election.
In striking the deal, Horton admitted he acted with criminal intent in committing the campaign finance violations. Each is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The disciplinary arm of the Ohio Supreme Court also could punish Horton for professional misconduct, potentially leading to the suspension of his law license and removal from the bench.
In the complaint filed with the elections commission, Horton admitted spending $1,014 at the Hyde Park restaurant to celebrate the withdrawal of his opponent, spending $979 at Due Amici for a fundraiser that attracted only one person beyond Horton and his campaign staff, and later spending $ 173 on cigars for his supporters.
Horton’s former bailiff when he served as a Common Pleas Court judge alleged in 2014 that he made sexual advances, groped her and described his sexual affairs with other women. Horton denied the claims. The bailiff later received a $45,000 settlement from the county and a judges’ self- insurance fund. A former intern also claimed she was sexually harassed by Horton. A court review panel issued no findings against Horton in noting it had no authority to discipline a judge.
Jim Owen, one of Horton’s lawyers, said Thursday that a 26-month investigation of Horton by court officials and the state auditor’s office only resulted in the election violations. Horton believes his campaign expenditures were appropriate, but “unreasonable in amount,” Owen said.
The Democrat served in Common Pleas Court from 2006 to 2014, when he won election as an appellate judge.