by TChris

TalkLeft reported yesterday that four misdemeanor charges were filed against Gov. Taft of Ohio. Those charges were presumably the result of negotiations, given the governor's decision to enter "no contest" pleas to the charges today.

His no-contest plea wraps up the case less than 24 hours after Taft became the first Ohio governor charged with a crime. He was fined the maximum $1,000 for each of four misdemeanor counts. As expected, no jail time was ordered. The charges had carried a maximum sentence of six months on each count.

One day between charging and conviction serves the political strategy of getting this mess out of the press, but Taft's decision to accept the convictions makes it difficult for him to continue his argument that his failure to disclose a variety of gifts, "including dinners, golf games and professional hockey tickets over four years," was accidental.

Update (TL): Crooks and Liars has a video of Taft's apology.