Ken Oliver’s biggest mistake might have been telling the truth.
If the Baltimore County Councilman hadn’t been honest — clearly identifying his intent to use campaign funds as personal loans in finance reports — he may not be in such hot water, friends and colleagues said Tuesday, a day after Oliver was criminally charged with felony theft and several campaign finance violations.
“The charges give the tenor that it’s more serious than it really is,” said C. Vernon Gray, a political science professor and a personal acquaintance of Oliver. “As people read this and as the law says, it’s theft. But it’s not theft. He disclosed everything he did.”
Prosecutors said Oliver, a Randallstown Democrat, used more than $4,000 in campaign funds for personal loans, which he later repaid. The indictment came nearly one year after Oliver sent a letter to Maryland elections officials, acknowledging the loans and apologizing for mishandling a “family emergency.” He said he was unaware that he was violating campaign finance laws.
In a brief statement after a county council meeting Monday evening, Oliver, 63, again denied any wrongdoing.
“I can assure you, I have done nothing wrong and that I will be found innocent when I have my day in court,” Oliver said.
According to the indictment, Oliver wrote two $2,000 checks to his wife and himself from his campaign account, which he describes as loans on the check memo line. The checks were later deposited into his own personal accounts at Harbor Bank, Oliver’s former employer.
In his finance reports, Oliver again identifies the expenses as “funds for family emergency” and “loan for family emergency.”
The discretion indicates Oliver did not have “criminal intentions,” said Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, a Pikesville Democrat and attorney.
“He reported everything he did,” Kamenetz said.
But several other items in Oliver’s campaign finance reports raise red flags for election officials, said Jared DeMarinis, campaign finance director at the state Board of Elections. Six of the eight charges involve Oliver’s failure to keep receipts for campaign-related expenses — which were listed as whole numbers and for generic items such as “fish fry supplies” — and for writing checks himself.
“We told him that you can’t have a treasurer in name only,” DeMarinis said. “The treasurer is the one that’s responsible for handling all the campaign funds.”
