Louisiana lawmaker to pay hefty fine after using campaign dollars to 'fund a gambling habit'

A Louisiana lawmaker will pay a $37,000 fine to the state treasury over three years, under an agreement approved Friday in which he acknowledges misspending the dollars from his campaign account to "fund a gambling habit."

Lafourche Parish Rep. Jerome "Dee" Richard must amend his campaign finance documents and won't be able to withdraw money on his own from his campaign account, as part of the settlement reached with the Louisiana Board of Ethics.

The board approved the settlement — known as a consent opinion — on Friday without objection and with little discussion of its contents. Richard didn't attend the hearing, but had already signed the agreement and acknowledged he violated Louisiana's campaign finance laws.

Richard, who is not affiliated with a political party, announced the settlement and fine last week, saying he believes compulsive gambling was a side effect to anti-Parkinson's disease medication he used. He said he started gambling with his campaign cash after running through all his personal money.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_a9fbd540-9a4d-11e7-9087-6f5e8375430e.html