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Prop B opponents fined by MEC

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Five and a half years after the people of Missouri passed a ballot initiative designed to stop the practice of puppy mills, some opponents of the measure found themselves in hot water with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

The MEC punished Mark Patterson and his lobbying firm, The Alliance for Truth, to the tune of $61,500 on July 10 for the unauthorized use of the committee’s contributions, failure to timely and accurately report contributions and expenditures and failure to maintain committee records.

The Alliance for Truth, a supposed nonprofit affiliate of The Cavalry Group, never filed as a nonprofit and failed to report on over $10,000 in contributions and $40,000 of expenditures. The Commission also found Patterson used the Alliance for Truth to pay for $45,300 in unspecified “consulting services” to the Cavalry Group, himself and into his company Crosswater Properties, L.LC.

The term “consulting services” is generally recognized by the MEC for being vague and unspecified.

Additionally, unreported campaign expenditures totaling over $20,000 went to Patterson directly or to Crosswater Properties, LLC.

The Alliance for Truth was at the forefront of the fight against Proposition B in 2010, better known as the Missouri Dog Breeding Regulation Act. It raised nearly $150,000 against the statewide initiative that was passed and set new provisions on dog breeding in Missouri, a state notorious for its puppy mill problem.