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Swing State Republican fund raiser and golfing buddy of the governor, Tom Noe, was indicted on 53 counts.  Noe is a scandal unto himself and not to be confused with Ney, the Ohio congressman under investigation in connection with the Abramoff scandal in Washington.

The indictment includes charges of money laundering, racketeering, theft, and making Gov. Bob Taft cry.  I made up that last one.  But Taft did shed a tear as he pleaded no contest to some Noe related midsemeanor charges last August.

Noe is a coin dealer.  He charmed the Bureau of Workers' Compensation into investing $50 million in rare coins, some of which were lost.  His wife claims the state made $10 million on the deal.

The Beacon Journal said, "Tom Noe, 51, pleaded not guilty and was jailed about five hours before posting $500,000 bail."  Whether he paid in coins is speculation on my part but if I were the judge, I would bite them.  Now that he's free, maybe Noe and Ney can persuade BWC to invest those coins in indian casino slot machines.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 17th, 2006 at 8:41 am and is filed under ohio law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.