Candidate’s fabrication of contributions and failure to disclose reports lead to $11,000 in civil penalties

Following a hearing, the Court concluded that a candidate for the mayorship of Athens-Clarke County violated the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act when he failed to file two required reports for campaign contribution disclosures. In ordering the candidate to pay the maximum civil-penalty total of $11,000 for the two violations, the Judge took several factors into consideration. As an initial matter, the two missing reports were due after the candidate failed to qualify for the mayoral race, meaning his violations were not “election sensitive.” Nevertheless, the candidate admitted that he “made up” contributions on another disclosure report for publicity, he failed to participate in prior proceedings before the Commission, and he had not yet filed the missing reports.