From a press release:
Attorney General Chris Carr today announced that Wole Ralph, former Clayton County Commissioner, entered a guilty plea to filing false campaign disclosure reports in violation of the Ethics in Government Act and received 24 months of probation. The court sentenced Ralph under the First Offender Act.
“As elected officials, we have a duty to be stewards of the Rule of Law and ensure our offices operate with the utmost transparency,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “Mr. Ralph knowingly violated the Ethics in Government Act, and for that, he must face the consequences.”
Ralph was required to file campaign contribution disclosure reports with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission listing the amounts of campaign contributions received and expended.
The accusation filed against Ralph charged him with filing numerous false reports between 2011 and 2012. Ralph received approximately $142,000 in campaign contributions; however, he only reported contributions of approximately $37,000. He also filed four campaign contribution disclosure reports during this period, in which he omitted the receipt of approximately $41,000 in campaign contributions. In addition, he failed to file two campaign contribution disclosure reports in which he should have disclosed the receipt of approximately $64,000 in campaign contributions, and finally, Ralph made campaign contribution expenditures totaling approximately $105,000 in 2012; however, he only reported expenditures of approximately $25,000.
Ralph entered a guilty plea to 2 counts of the accusation which charged him with failing to report a total of approximately $14,000 in campaign contributions.
As a condition of Mr. Ralph’s probation, he also has to perform 100 hours of community service.
The plea was taken by Judge Wesley Tailor in Fulton County State Court. Assistant Attorney General Greg Lohmeier spearheaded the investigation on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General in partnership with the Clayton County District Attorney’s office.