State legislator fails to report $30,000 in campaign contributions

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ State Representative Mike Shelton of Oklahoma City says he failed to report nearly $30,000 in campaign contributions dating back nearly a year. <br/><br/>Shelton says he's done

Friday, September 30th 2005, 10:26 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ State Representative Mike Shelton of Oklahoma City says he failed to report nearly $30,000 in campaign contributions dating back nearly a year.

Shelton says he's done nothing wrong and that it's common to report contributions late. But state Ethics Commission Director Marilyn Hughes says while amended reports are common, she says it's not common for the amount to be close to $30,000.

Candidates can face fines of $1,000 to $50,000 for failing to report campaign contributions.

Shelton filed three reports since January saying his House campaign neither accepted nor spent money from October 19th, 2004 until June 30th, 2005. His new reports show $29,675 was raised during the period and nearly $25,000 was spent.

Shelton wouldn't say why it took him so long to report the contributions, but says a bookkeeper couldn't continue working for him after the 2004 election.