COLUMBUS -Gov. Bob Taft's former top aide is expected to be charged with violations of Ohio's ethics laws in an ongoing investment scandal, the city prosecutor said.
Brian Hicks is accused of accepting gifts as a public official and his failure to disclose those gifts, said prosecutor Stephen McIntosh. Charges must be filed by Friday to meet a legal deadline. Hicks left office two years ago Friday and under the rule, charges cannot be filed after then.
McIntosh would not say what potential crime the charges would cover or how many charges he might file.
There's enough information for us to file the charges
McIntosh said. I'm really hesitant to say whether they're good charges great charges or difficult charges.
Hicks, a Taft aide for 12 years, served as the governor's chief of staff from 1999 until 2003 when he left to become a political consultant and lobbyist.
Hicks would not comment Tuesday. Messages were left with his attorney, John Zeiger.
Hicks is being investigated for his 2001 stay at the Florida home of prominent GOP contributor Tom Noe, a rare coin dealer at the heart of an ongoing state investment scandal.
Hicks said he paid $300 to $500 for five nights in the home in 2001, and didn't report the rental as a gift because he paid market value.
Comparable houses nearby reportedly rent for more than $2,000 a week.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien, whose office has been investigating Hicks along with McIntosh, said both prosecutors and defense lawyers are aware the 2-year deadline for filing misdemeanor charges runs out Friday.
We're all working to determine the resolution of the investigation and the case within those time guidelines O'Brien said.
The improper acceptance of gifts carries a fine of $1,000 and up to six months in jail. Failing to disclose gifts carries a $250 fine and 30 days in jail.
Taft had no information on McIntosh's statement and would not comment, said spokesman Mark Rickel.
At the time Hicks stayed in Noe's home, Noe had contracts with the state insurance fund for injured workers to invest millions of dollars in state money in rare coins.
As a state vendor, Noe could not give Taft or other officials gifts worth more than $75 a year.
Losses relating to the Bureau of Workers' Compensation investment in coins and other funds now top $300 million.
Noe invested at least $100,000 of the $50 million in state funds he received to invest in rare coins in an online gambling company, The (Toledo) Blade reported Wednesday, citing Securities and Exchange Commission records.
Noe also was quoted in a press release by the Cincinnati-based company, Games Inc., touting the benefits of online lotteries. Noe, identified in the release as chairman of the Ohio Board of Regents, said an online lottery could help to ease funding woes for education by making the state lottery more accessible.
The press release does not identify Noe as an investor in the company, which operates a Web site offering multiple gambling games.
Company CEO Roger Ach also has sought contracts with state lotteries, including Ohio's, to allow people to buy lottery tickets online using its software. A message was left for Ach yesterday seeking comment.
Hicks has been fighting the allegations against him, suing last week to stop the release of information to state watchdog Tom Charles about gifts Hicks may have received as Taft's chief of staff.
In the lawsuit, Hicks' attorney called the request a quintessential fishing expedition because investigators took names off calendars Hicks kept from 1999 through July 2003.
Hicks has successfully fought allegations of ethics violations before.
In September, the Ohio Ethics Commission ruled unanimously that neither Hicks nor an assistant violated Ohio's lobbying law or illegally profited from the public contract won by Envision Pharmaceutical Services.
The company received a state contract to manage Ohio's new discount drug card.
Hicks worked with Taft, a Republican, for 12 years going back to Taft's two terms as secretary of state.
He also managed Taft's political campaigns, including his gubernatorial election in 1998 and re-election in 2002.
Hicks, a former Ohio State University student body president, worked for U.S. Rep. Mike Oxley in Washington before Taft hired him when Hicks was 26.
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