A judge acquitted two Carroll County Republican Club officers of election law violations Monday, calling Maryland?s campaign finance law too vague.
Club President Scott Hollenbeck, of Westminster, and treasurer Suzanne Primoff, of Woodbine and Loxahatchee, Fla., avoided up to two years in prison and $26,000 in fines after retired Prince George?s Circuit Judge Vincent Femia ruled in their favor following a half-day bench trial in Carroll County Circuit Court.
Carroll judges recused themselves to avoid any perceived conflict of interest in local politics.
“I find that the law is very, very ambiguous,” Femia said. “And that it is quite clear that [the defendants] received advice from [lawyer Robert] Lennon and [former Gov. Robert Ehrlich policy adviser Joe] Getty. I am convinced that a crime has not been committed.”
The state prosecutor?s office charged Primoff and Hollenbeck in November with illegally engaging in campaign finance activity after they paid for and ran negative political ads that attacked commissioner incumbents and supported challengers several weeks before the primary.
Former Commissioner Perry Jones Jr. blamed his loss on the ads, which said Jones didn?t live in the county despite his Union Bridge address.
Maryland law does not define political clubs and defines only political action committees, which are formed specifically to endorse candidates andare required to file their campaign finances with the state Board of Elections.
Primoff?s husband, Ed Primoff, also a member of the club, testified that the club continues to meet regularly and charges $10 in dues.
In addition, the Primoffs donated $13,000 to the club, and Hoby Wolf and the William Snyder Company each donated $5,000, according to court testimony.
