Former State Senator Charged With Campaign Violations
Former Indiana State Senator Brent Waltz has been charged with violating federal election campaign laws. (photo courtesy: WISH TV)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA former Indiana state senator and a gaming executive have been indicted by a federal grand jury for alleged campaign finance violations.
Acting U.S. Attorney John Childress’s office has filed charges against Brent Waltz of Greenwood, who served in the state Senate from 2005-17 as a Republican.
In 2016, he unsuccessfully ran for a seat in Indiana’s 9th congressional district.
Among the charges, Waltz is accused of making and receiving illegal campaign contributions, falsifying Federal Election Campaign records, and making false statements stemming from an alleged scheme to illegally route campaign contributions.
Our partners at WISH-TV report Waltz was arrested Monday by the FBI.
Also charged is 71-year-old John Keeler. At the time, Keeler was vice president and general counsel for Indianapolis-based New Centaur LLC.
He’s accused of making false statements regarding corporate contributions to Waltz’s 2016 congressional campaign, in violation of federal campaign finance law.
According to the U.S. Attorney, Keeler transferred thousands of dollars to Kelley Rogers, a Maryland-based political consultant for the 2016 Waltz campaign. The two agreed to have Rogers create phony invoices designed to reflect services to be performed for New Centaur.
Rogers then allegedly recruited straw donors to make $2,700 donations to the Waltz campaign. The donors were either reimbursed for the donations or paid in advance using the money given from Keeler to Rogers. Childress’ office says the illegal contributions were concealed from campaign officials.