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DeLay Indicted a Second Time; New Charge is Money Laundering

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 October 2005, 15:00 CDT

By R.A. DYER, KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

AUSTIN, Texas - Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted again Monday - this time on money laundering charges - in an escalating criminal case that has far-ranging political implications.

The new indictment accuses DeLay, R-Texas, of illegally circumventing the state's law against corporate campaign contributions, and was issued by a just-empaneled grand jury.

The new indictment follows on the heels of indictments against DeLay and his associates by a separate grand jury on Wednesday, the last day of that grand jury's term.

DeLay called the new charge an "abomination of justice" by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle. It came just as DeLay's attorneys were filing a motion to dismiss the first charge against him because the law he was alleged to have broken was not in effect at the time of the alleged offense.

"Ronnie Earle has stooped to a new low with his brand of prosecutorial abuse," DeLay said in a statement. "He is trying to pull the legal equivalent of a 'do-over' since he knows very well that the charges he brought against me last week are totally manufactured and illegitimate."

More than 40 grand jury indictments have been returned so far in Earle's 2 1/2-year investigation of Republican campaign tactics during 2002 state House elections in Texas. The investigation centers on allegations that DeLay and others circumvented Texas' prohibition against corporate campaign contributions during those House races, which many then believed would be close.

Specifically, DeLay, 58, is accused of conspiring with Jim Ellis of Washington, D.C., and John Colyandro of Austin to convert $190,000 in donations from several corporations into campaign contributions on behalf of seven Republican state House candidates.

According to the District Attorney's Office, that corporate money was sent from Austin to Washington, and then sent back to Texas in the form of contributions to candidates for the state Legislature. Texas law makes it a felony for corporations and labor unions to contribute to political candidates.

Earle's office reports that the indictments returned Monday accuse DeLay of both money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment also consolidates previous charges against Colyandro and Ellis, and adds DeLay as a defendant to money laundering charges.

The latest indictment carries a far stiffer penalty than the one handed down last week.

If convicted on the money laundering charge, which is a first- degree felony, DeLay would face a sentence of up to five years' probation to life in prison, and a fine of up to $10,000. Conspiracy to commit money laundering is a second-degree felony punishable by to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

By contrast, the original conspiracy indictment carried a sentence of two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000.

Source: Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.

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