County Councilman Ken Oliver pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to two misdemeanor campaign finance violations in Baltimore County Circuit Court. The guilty plea was part of a negotiated settlement reached between Oliver’s attorneys and State Prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh.

Oliver pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of using $2,000 for personal use and reimbursing himself $300 without providing a receipt.

The plea eliminates the possibility that Oliver will have to resign his position on the County Council.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the original eight-count indictment, which included two counts of felony theft related to two loans of $2,000 prosecutors and state election records show Oliver made to his wife for a “family emergency.”

As part of the agreement, Assistant State Prosecutor Tamara Gustave asked for 50 hours of community service and a $2,500 fine — but made no recommendation on sentencing.

Charles Byrd, Oliver’s attorney, asked Circuit Court Judge Thomas Bollinger for a sentence of probation before judgment. To bolster his request, Byrd presented a packet of numerous letters from elected officials and other community leaders attesting to Oliver’s character.

“Although he intentionally did what he did, there is reason to believe that (Oliver) did not know what he did was illegal,” Byrd told the judge.

Bollinger handed down a sentence of probation before judgment. As terms of the sentence, Oliver received six months supervised probation.

Bollinger ordered Oliver to serve that community service with “a CPA or other expert in campaign finance law.”

Oliver’s supervised probation will end in six months or when the councilman provides a letter stating he has completed his campaign finance law education and paid the $2,500 fine and court costs.

Gustave said that the two charges “were not related Kenneth Oliver’s public duties and responsibilities as a Baltimore County councilman.”

The County Charter requires the resignation of elected officials who are convicted of or plead guilty to any crime that carries the possibility of a jail term if that crime relates to the official’s duties in office.

A series of stories published by Patuxent Publishing, publisher of this Web site, uncovered two $2,000 loans and 40 reimbursements made to Oliver for expenses that appeared to be duplicate payments.  Oliver’s campaign repeatedly declined to provide documentation for the payments.

“I did make a mistake,” Oliver told Bollinger, his voice shaky and cracking. “There was no criminal intent.”

Oliver told the judge he had in place procedures that will improve the record keeping in his campaign.

He was not required to elaborate on what the money was used for.

After the trial, Rohrbaugh said he was satisfied with the outcome and called the sentence “completely appropriate.”

Oliver declined to comment. A cadre of defense attorneys and supporters repeatedly stepped between reporters and Oliver and sometimes nudged them out of the way.

Robert Smith, who once represented Oliver, spoke for the councilman, saying, “We’ll let the court record speak for itself.” Oliver declined to respond when asked if he felt his constituents deserved a more detailed explanation of the events that resulted in the plea bargain.

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