Ken Ard indicted on ethics violations

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — Just hours after Ken Ard resigned from his position as the Lt. Governor, Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that a grand jury has indicted Ard on seven counts of ethics violations. Wilson says, “The State Grand Jury charges Mr. Ard with a scheme, developed as part of his candidacy for Lt. Governor, to create the false appearance of a groundswell of political support through fictitious or bogus campaign contributions. These donations to Mr. Ard’s campaign were not a genuine demonstration of financial support. Instead, they represented cash in the amount of $75,000 which was funneled from Mr. Ard to others and ultimately back to his campaign as purported contributions from citizens in the community… Mr. Ard is charged with four counts of unlawful reimbursement of campaign contributions; two counts of falsely filing campaign reports; and one count encompassing multiple acts of personal use of campaign funds.” Ken Ard faces up to $35,000 in fines and seven years in prison if he is convicted. Monique Williams is working on this story and will have the latest coming up on ABC Columbia News at Six.