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Posted on 07/10/2003 7:19:56 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Governor's ex-mistress is indicted Accusation against Patton prompts mail-fraud case
By Jack Brammer HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU
Tina Conner, who had a two-year adulterous affair with Gov. Paul Patton, was charged yesterday with one count of mail fraud by a federal grand jury in Covington.
Conner prompted the grand jury's investigation last fall with her allegations that Patton abused his office to help her during their affair and then to hurt her once it ended. In an ironic twist, she now faces charges that could result in a 20-year sentence and a $250,000 fine.
No one else has been charged, but U.S. Attorney Gregory F. Van Tatenhove said in a statement that the grand jury is conducting "an ongoing investigation of alleged corruption in state government, including the Kentucky Department of Transportation."
The five-page indictment alleges that Conner fraudulently applied through the mail in July 2000 to get special status from the state Transportation Cabinet for a construction company she and her former husband owned. Her company sought certification as a "disadvantaged business enterprise."
DBE certification helps construction companies owned by minorities and women get work as subcontractors on state road projects and other public construction projects.
Conner and her former husband, Seth Conner, sought to have the firm, ST Construction Co., certified in Tina Conner's name, though Seth Conner would actually do the work, the indictment said.
It also alleges that Conner made several misrepresentations in the application, saying that she personally controlled the business, that her net worth was less than $750,000 and that she had experience in the road construction business.
Mark Pfeiffer, a spokesman for the Transportation Cabinet, said the agency expects other indictments, "but we're not going to have further comment until the grand jury finishes its work."
Van Tatenhove, the federal prosecutor, said the Conner indictment "contains allegations that illustrate the potential for abuse of the troubled DBE program."
Earlier this year, an FBI agent filed an affidavit in U.S. District Court in Lexington to obtain a search warrant of computers at the state Transportation Cabinet. In the affidavit, FBI Special Agent Joe Moutz said that Conner told him in a November interview that she wasn't qualified for the certification program when she applied.
Conner, who owned a nursing home in Clinton and was Patton's political contact in Hickman County, has made similar statements in interviews with reporters.
Brian Wright, a spokesman for Attorney General Ben Chandler, said Chandler had no comment on the "still ongoing" federal-state investigation.
Conner, 41, will plead not guilty at her arraignment in the Frankfort division of the U.S. District Court, said her attorney, Thomas E. Clay of Louisville. No hearing has been scheduled yet.
Clay called the indictment "a regrettable outcome of incompetent legal advice" Conner received from her previous attorney, Fred Radolovich of Louisville.
Conner was given only limited, and not blanket, immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony to the FBI and investigators for Chandler, Clay said.
The attorney said his client was encouraged by Radolovich to "discuss all the details of the affair with the news media. She even was given names of media to call."
He said the indictment was "a result of statements to the media that the United States could not ignore."
In an interview, Radolovich said that Conner initially went to the media against his advice. "After that, I just told her to answer reporters' questions truthfully and honestly.
"We had serious arguments about her talking so much," Radolovich said. "I would tell her silence is golden but she didn't listen."
Radolovich, who represented Conner until mid-April, said he expects other indictments. "If she committed the fraud, she did it with help," he said without elaboration.
Radolovich said Conner was granted limited immunity for everything she told investigators as long as she was truthful. However, he said the immunity would not cover statements Conner made to others, including the news media.
Both Clay and Radolovich said Conner never received a letter from prosecutors informing her that she was a target of the investigation. Prosecutors sometimes send such letters to people who are likely to be indicted.
Patton, who was not mentioned in the indictment, appeared outside his Capitol office to tell reporters he was aware of the indictment. "I have no knowledge of any of the facts relative to that indictment and I think it would be inappropriate for me to comment any further than that," he said.
He said again that he is "convinced that I have not done anything to violate the law. I have not abused my office, and I am confident that that will be the eventual outcome of these investigations."
Patton, 66, did not answer reporters' questions. Because the indictment against Conner is a federal, and not a state, charge, he has no power to pardon her as he recently pardoned two of his top aides on campaign-finance charges.
Patton publicly acknowledged last September his affair with Conner after initially denying it. Patton has said he called Transportation Secretary James Codell regarding Conner's application for the DBE certification, but merely said she appeared to be a legitimate businesswoman and never ordered or pressured Codell to see that her company was certified.
Codell, who was not mentioned in yesterday's indictment, has said he doesn't remember the call from Patton.
Patton's attorney, Sheryl Snyder of Louis-ville, said Patton has not received a target letter from investigators and has not been subpoeanaed to testify.
Clay, Conner's attorney, said it's too early to say whom Conner might call as witnesses in a trial. "I'm not in a position now to talk strategy," he said.
Conner filed a lawsuit against Patton last year, charging sexual harassment and other alleged offenses. A Franklin Circuit judge has dismissed all the charges but one -- an allegation of outrageous conduct.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reach Jack Brammer at (859) 231-1302; 1-800-950-6397, Ext 1302; or jbrammer@herald-leader.com.
In other words, ladies, beware of powerful gentlemen that you decide to "service."
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More like be careful when deciding to go psycho on powerful ex boyfriends ...
During the press conference, Mr. Patton, with his wife at his side, denied the abuse of power charge and claimed he had no relationship with Mrs. Conner, who has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit.
Three days later, Mr. Patton wept almost uncontrollably as he admitted the affair. He continued to deny favoring or targeting Mrs. Conner's Clinton, Ky., nursing home.
Maybe Mrs. Patton could get a bestseller out of her story. It's worked for others.
Here's the blubbering bastard.
When everything is a crime, they can do whatever they like with anybody they wish. I'm sick to death of Big Stupid Government. And Republicans are making it much bigger and much dumber, much faster.
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