Associated Press
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SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A published report says indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith dipped into campaign funds to pay more than $37,000 to his defense team.
The Chicago Sun-Times (http://tinyurl.com/b7kgotx ) reports the Chicago Democrat made that expenditure in March, days after his arrest allegedly taking a $7,000 bribe from an undercover FBI informant.
Smith disclosed the legal fees payment in a January filing with the election board. State law doesn’t prohibit officials from using campaign dollars to pay for a legal defense, but does ban the use of those funds to purchase vehicles and homes.
Prosecutors charged Smith with accepting the bribe in return for recommending a state grant to help a daycare center.
He’s denied wrongdoing but was expelled from office. Voters put him back in office.
The trial is set for October.
