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Lewis Reed, Joe Frese found to have violated Missouri campaign finance law by MEC

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Ethics Commission issued three consent orders for campaign finance violations. The President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, an unsuccessful state representative candidate, and a political action committee all were found to have violated Missouri law.

Lewis Reed, the current President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, was fined $10,950 for failing to report several contributions in his unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2017. The eight contributions his campaign failed to report totaled $10,950.

To comply with the consent order, Reed can pay $1,095 within 45 days. Provided he doesn’t have any more violations within the next two years, he will not have to pay to the full amount.

Joe Frese, an unsuccessful Democratic candidate to represent House District 5, was found to have violated campaign contribution limits. He will not be fined since a refund to the donor was already issued.

On August 2, 2018, Frese’s campaign received and accepted two checks from the Marion County Democratic Campaign Committee totaling $3,325. The Missouri Constitution limits campaign contributions to $2,600.

The ethics commission has opted not to take any further action on the violation since the campaign refunded the donor $725 by the 2018 October quarterly filing.

The Invest in Green County PAC was fined $3,262 for five different campaign finance violations. The Missouri Ethics Commission also imposed a $1,000 fee.

The ethics commission found probable cause that expenditures were made by a party other than the treasurer and that the committee failed to timely and accurately file campaign finance disclosure reports with cumulative information from the date of the last report, failed to timely and accurately report expenditures, failed to timely and accurately report contributions, and failed to timely and accurately file 24 House Late Contribution Notices and 24 Hour Late Expenditure Reports.

To comply with the consent order, Invest in Green County can pay $365 and $100 within 45 days. Provided they don’t have any more violations within the next two years, they will not have to pay to the full amount of the fine or the fee.