Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Matt Kelty Indictment

Angry White Boy recently posted the indictment against Matt Kelty:
<http://www.turkette.com/political/kelt.pdf>

I would like to discuss these items one by one:

1. The first count is a class D felony for perjury. Basically the Grand Jury asked Matt Kelty if Don Willis had ever provided any support to your campaign other then what has been delineated in your reports?" To this question Matt answered "Not that I know of."

This means the grand jury feels that Matt Kelty made a false, material statement knowing the statement to be false or not believing the statements to be true.

So to convict Matt Kelty of this a court of law will have to prove that Don Willis did provide support to Matt Kelty's campaign other then what is listed in his campaign reports and that Matt knew this contribution came from Don Willis.

This is pretty straight forward and will be determined by the jury. I do not think Matt Kelty lied to the Grand Jury and I think he will be found innocent by a jury at his trial.

2. The second count is a class D felony for perjury. Basically the Grand Jury asked Matt Kelty "So your story is that Fred Rost, your campaign chairman, lender to you of $150,000, commissioned a poll for your benefit to determine the public's sentiments on an issue that's an issue in the campaign and he doesn't tell you about it?" Matt responds with "Yes sir."

This means the grand jury feels that Matt Kelty made a false, material statement knowing the statement to be false or not believing the statements to be true.

So to convict Matt Kelty of this a court of law will have to prove Matt Kelty knew that Fred Rost commissioned a poll for Matt's benefit and that Matt knew Fred Rost commissioned the poll.

This is pretty straight forward and will be determined by the jury. I do not believe that Matt lied to the Grand Jury.

3. The 3rd count is a class D Felony for filing a fraudulent campaign finance report concerning an $8000 loan.

We have discussed this to death on this blog and many others. Many people I respect have read the campaign finance laws and do NOT feel that Matt Kelty broke the law (Including myself and two of the three members of The Allen County Election Board). Many other people I respect have read the campaign finance laws and feel that Matt Kelty broke the law.

This one is just a matter of opinion.

4. The 4th count is a class D Felony for filing a fraudulent campaign finance report concerning a $2000 loan.

See number 3 above.

5. The 5th count is a class D Felony for filing a fraudulent campaign finance report concerning the total of the loans list in #3 and #4 above.

See number 3 above.

6. The 6th count is a class D Felony for filing a fraudulent campaign finance report concerning the source of an in-kind contribution (Zogby poll) as contributed by Fred Rost, knowing the contributors were, in fact, Fred Rost and Donald Willis.

This one is a little different.

Basically the Court will first have to prove that the Zogby poll was paid for by Don Willis and Fred Rost. Secondly they will have to prove that Matt Kelty knew that both Don Willis and Fred Rost paid for the Zogby poll.

This one is very straight forward. I do not think Matt Kelty lied.

7. The 7th count is a class D Felony for fraudulently reporting a campaign contribution of $150,000 from Fred Rost as a personal loan from Matt Kelty.

See #3 above.

8. The 8th count is a class B misdemeanor for placing the $150,000 contribution made by Fred Rost into Matt Kelty's personal checking account.

Realize that both Fred Rost and Matt Kelty considered the $150,000 a loan from Fred to Matt. Based on that Matt put that contribution into his checking account and then loaned it to his campaign.

See #3 above.

9. The 9th count is a class B misdemeanor for placing the $10,000 contribution made by per #5 above into Matt Kelty's personal checking account.

See #8 above.

In summary I think that six of these charges stem from a difference of opinion on how 3 loans to Matt Kelty's Campaign should be reported. I have talked to several lawyers and several CPA's about this issue. They are split on the issue almost exactly in half. Half think it was reported correctly and half think it was reported incorrectly. This one issue is directly responsible for charges 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. As far as I am concerned these charges are a joke.

Charges 1, 2, and 6 are charges of a different nature and involve an accusation that Matt Kelty is lying. I certainly do not think Matt Kelty is lying; however, this is going to be put in front of a jury.

Since I am not Matt Kelty, Don Willis, or Fred Rost I cannot know for certain what was known and by whom it was known. Based on reputation alone I have heard that Don Willis is a good man. I know Fred Rost and Matt Kelty somewhat and I feel both are men of integrity.

That is my take on the nine indictments.

I would like to thank AWB for posting the indictment on his blog Fort Wayne News!

What is your take on the nine indictments?

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rost and Willis both testified before the Grand Jury. In order to substantiate the perjury charges, they must have stated that Matt knew what he claims he did not.

Anonymous said...

Mike,

Other people also testified in front of the grand jury.

Get your facts straight.

LP Mike Sylvester said...

First anonymous said:

I would like to learn more about your post.

Are you saying the Grand Jury HAD TO substantiate the perjury charges with testimony?

I was not in the court room and I do not know what was said by Willis or Rost.

Were you in the Courtroom?

I may be missing something here...


Second anonymous said:

You need to read my post before you post comments. In my post I never say that only Kelty testified.

You might want to drink fewer alcholic beverages before you post comments. Luckily when you post ignorant comments you refuse to sign your name. Wise move on your behalf I would say.

Mike Sylvester, someone not afriad to identify himself in his comments and posts...

Jeff Pruitt said...

Mike,

I don't think the grand jury would've pursued charges 1,2,6 w/o corroboration from Rost and Willis in their testimony. Do I know that for sure? No.

For Matt's sake he had better hope that Rost and Willis do not directly contradict his testimony. If they do then he's sunk. However, I think it's difficult to assess judgement on these issues one way or another w/o knowing Willis and Rost's testimony.

Unfortunately, Matt has made various contradicting statements about that poll to the media and to his own party...

LP Mike Sylvester said...

Jeff Pruitt:

I agree...

I wish I knew if there was an actual contradiction or if the Grand Jury thinks there is enough evidence that there may have been a contradiction.

Mike Sylvester

Anonymous said...

"So to convict Matt Kelty of this a court of law will have to prove that Don Willis did provide support to Matt Kelty's campaign other then what is listed in his campaign reports and that Matt knew this contribution came from Don Willis. "

Mike, Willis had already testified and probably said Kelty knew he was a contributor for the poll.

He broke the law. Get over it.

Parson said...

Wouldn't Kelty, Rost and Willis make sure they all had the same story long before this campaign loan stuff came out? That way if they were ever questioned they would have the same story and not be doubted.

Anonymous said...

Willis didn't give any money to this Poll. It is all in his pocket. That contradiction is not from Willis it is from someone else.

sigmund5 said...

One can think no wrongdoing occurred and find people who agree with you or make the vague assertion that it is just opinion. Do we want politicians who resort to such gymnastic and claim they didn't know what their campaign manager did or didn't do? Matt had months to either find out what happened or get the story straight, both of which didn't occur. Sorry, that is not being responsible or a leader. That is the main point. This is not the first time that questions have been raised about his ability to tell the truth. He is finished as being a politician.

I don't find him a disagreeable type, just not the brightest light on the tree and too willing to exploit religion and simplistic "solutions" to complex problems by wearing his faith and charisma on his sleeve. I think he thought his ends justified the means.

He had months to orchestrate his story with those of others, but still couldn't give a straight answer. Defend him on legal technicalities all you want, but you can't deny this all comes down to trying to mislead and evade responsibility.

Anonymous said...

I don't think orchestrating a story is exactly the right characterization here and I don't think defending him on technicalities is the right characterization either. I think "prosecuting him on technicalities" might be the right characterization. Criticizing him on technicalities. Shooting holes in the ship so to speak. All of this is relatively easy to do and doesn't require much intelligence.

Anonymous said...

I love these posts.

Yes Yes Yes, the threshold for Guilt is BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.

However, should we demand a slightly higher threshold for Mayor of Fort Wayne? The fact that he is found not guilty does not mean that all of these shenanigans do not smell to high heaven and it would not mean that this guy has the honesty and integrity to be the leader of this great community.

Jennifer Jeffrey said...

Funny. Integrity.. like the CURRENT government officals.. pick a level..

Anonymous said...

Jennifer,

Whose integrity are you questioning? You are the chairman of the Local 3rd Party, so what you say means something. So tell us which current government officials integrity are you questioning?

Please name names and tell us why that particular person lacks integrity.

If you are not going to name names then stop throwing around your blanket comments.

Jeff Pruitt said...

Ok, the city government.

Who would you suggest lacks integrity? While I might strongly disagree w/ some decisions I don't think I'd go as far as to claim they lacked integrity...

Anonymous said...

Sigler:
Q. So your story is that Fred Rost, your campaign chairman, lender to you of 150 grand [$150,000], commissions a poll for your benefit to determine the publics sentiments on an issue that’s an issue in the campaign and he doesn’t tell you about it?

Kelty
A. Yes, sir.

Sigler:
Q. That’s your testimony?

Kelty:
A. Yes, sir.

Excerpts from a column by Fred Rost:

"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished."

This morning I released mayoral candidate Matt Kelty from his PLEDGE OF CONFIDENTIALITY regarding the source of the Zogby International poll, which I commissioned.

My question...if he didn't know Rost commissioned it, why the CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT?

Anyone?

Anonymous said...

Only 9 counts?!

Anonymous said...

This was posted on Change Fort Wayne, and it is too intriguing not to post here:

Sigler:
Q. So your story is that Fred Rost, your campaign chairman, lender to you of 150 grand [$150,000], commissions a poll for your benefit to determine the publics sentiments on an issue that’s an issue in the campaign and he doesn’t tell you about it?

Kelty
A. Yes, sir.

Sigler:
Q. That’s your testimony?

Kelty:
A. Yes, sir.

Excerpts from a column by Fred Rost:

"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished."

This morning I released mayoral candidate Matt Kelty from his PLEDGE OF CONFIDENTIALITY regarding the source of the Zogby International poll, which I commissioned.

My question...if he didn't know Rost commissioned it, why the CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT?

Anyone?

Anonymous said...

I hate to stick up for Kelty on this issue because I think he did perjur himself, however, the example above does not prove anything.

Fred Rost released him of his confidentiality, but the Rost quote does not give any indication of whether Kelty would have known AT THE TIME the poll was commissioned. My hunch is that he did know, but the Rost quote above could easily be read to mean that sometime after the poll came out, he let Kelty know that he paid for it and asked him then to keep it confidential.

Unknown said...

"Fred Rost has issued a statement today saying that he paid for the Zogby Poll provided to mayoral candidate Matt Kelty. The filing deadline for Pre-Primary Campaign Finance Reports was at noon today.

He entitled his statement "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished."

This morning I released mayoral candidate Matt Kelty from his pledge of confidentiality regarding the source of the Zogby International poll, which I commissioned."
_______
While THIS instance may not fall under "perjury" it DOES indicate that Kelty new [likely] well in advance of the pre-primary campaign finance report deadline. Which would also indicate he was lying to the public about not knowing who paid for it. Had he said he DID know, but was silenced by a confidentiality agreement, it may not look quite so bad. However, Kelty stated that he did not know who commissioned the poll, THEN after sometime he said he knew SOME of the businessmen who commissioned it (which would also indicate that he KNEW it was more than ONE person. Kelty is so tangled in his own lies, he can't keep his story straight. And THAT kind of behavior is not what most DECENT people want in a mayor (or any elected official).

Anonymous said...

Let's consider the possibility that Kelty was unaware that Rost commissioned the poll. The fact that Kelty agreed to keep the source confidential (once he knew) and used the information to his advantage, plays right into the theory that the loan from Rost was an attempt to buy the campaign. Who was really in control?

David C Roach said...

local govt integrity? elected officials, judges, lawyers, prosecutors, cops, sheriffs-
all of them either had to know about rampant cherrymaster/Racketeering in FTW.
either they are ignorant- not knowing whats going on.
incompetent- have no clue how to investigate illegal gamlbing/racketeering;
or are corrupt- paid off to look the other way.
given the hundreds of e-mails i sent out to the authorities, and dozens of phone calls to the ATF, FBI, ACPD, FWPD,ISP, GOP, ETC..
over the course of the past 10 years, or so-
see my april 1995 city council at large platform; and 2006 "Cherrymaster-gate"/white collar crime campaign

It would seem that we have cause for grand jury investigations into the above political/judidial /police authorities, and elected officials- about what they knew, and when they knew it, and why they didnt do anything about it.
As we are seeing afgain, since watergate, and so on- Its not the crime, its the cover-up.
So there you go- I will gladly send our 3rd fearless leader anything she cares to examine- including a 20 lb box of newspaper clippings about gambling in indiana, and cherrymaster/racketeering in FTW ;
or simply go to the excise police/city police/county police archives and see for yourself.
governor daniels finally pulled the plug on these racketeers; but stopped short of investigating the whole crooked state, where I'm sure there were 92 counties worth of illegal raketeering/cherrymasters.
so there!
And Matt Kelty should sing like a canary/spill his guts to the grand jury, and take down the GOP crooks with him. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made on the altar of public integrity.

Anonymous said...

Odd question? Has anyone realized that Willis was Rost's former boss? Knowing Willis and his demanding ways, I believe that he was able to keep Rost quiet!

Anonymous said...

With all the respect on the opinions –

Reading and following up with what is happening to Matt Kelty, indicates that there are special interest group that really lynching Matt Kelty as an example discouraging others to run for office.

There should be some kind of grace exercised. Think about it, almost half of the Fort Wayne voters have voted for matt Kelty, if Matt panelized, it is going to cause problem and mistrust of the Republican Party for dumping Matt Kelty from the beginning, this will discourage voters like me to switch party.

I have voted Rep. thus far but because of their recent stand mainly of the leadership, it warns me that they are corrupt and there may be under table activities and usurp of position is going on. It is a shame when a just man and not so perfect man (like all of us) Matt Kelty wanting to run for office and does not agree with the norm policies, then he is punished and persecuted.

Perhaps, it may be better national Republican Party to look into this, to discover why at first place Matt Kelty was discarded when people of Fort Wayne wanted him as their choice to run for Mayer. He was people’s choice to run for office obviously not the Republicans Party’s choice.

So what I suggest to disassemble the Republican Part at Fort Wayne and bring in new people, a fresh blood, much brighter and wiser people in to replace the present people who are running, defiantly replace Steve Shine. It seems to me and what I heard, his wife did not like Matt Kelty from the beginning.

If Matt Kelty had the support of his own people, it would have avoided perhaps a little compromise. Matt Kelty is not guilty and should run for mayor’s office in future, I will defiantly vote for him. He is a voice for those who voted for him in Fort Wayne.

Never the less, this is important for the future of Fort Wayne, to let go of pressing charges against Kelty and move on to the next thing. We have a Mayer and lets work together to make Fort Wayne a safe place for all to elect the leaders that we deserve.

Concerned Citizen,

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