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FEC fines ex-Hillsborough Rep. Ross Spano $30,000 for federal election law violations in 2018

Spano, a Republican, was elected in 2018 to U.S. House District 15. At the time, the district included parts of Hillsborough, Polk and Lake counties.
 
In this Dec. 18, 2019, file photo, then-Rep. Ross Spano, R-Fla., speaks as the House of Representatives debates the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington. The Federal Election Commission has found that Spano violated campaign-finance laws in 2018 and has fined him $30,000.
In this Dec. 18, 2019, file photo, then-Rep. Ross Spano, R-Fla., speaks as the House of Representatives debates the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington. The Federal Election Commission has found that Spano violated campaign-finance laws in 2018 and has fined him $30,000. [ AP ]
Published May 2, 2023|Updated May 3, 2023

Former U.S. Rep. Ross Spano of Dover has agreed to pay a $30,000 fine for violations of campaign finance law in his 2018 campaign for a congressional seat from east Hillsborough and Lakeland.

After a 4½-year investigation, the Federal Election Commission imposed the fine after finding that Spano borrowed $180,000 from two friends and used it to make $164,500 in loans to his campaign while claiming on campaign finance reports the money came from “personal funds.”

Candidates can contribute or loan any amount of their own money to their campaigns or the campaigns can use bank loans, but not personal loans. The money far exceeded the allowed $2,700 individual contribution limit then in effect.

The FEC investigation began when the Times revealed shortly before the election that Spano had failed to file legally required forms disclosing his personal finances — and that disclosures he had previously filed as a state legislator didn’t appear to show any source for the cash he loaned his congressional race.

When he filed the federal disclosure forms on the Saturday before Election Day, they revealed the loans, which the Times reported corresponded roughly with dates and amounts of his loans to his campaign and appeared to be the source.

Three weeks later, on Dec. 3, Spano filed an admission to the FEC that he may have violated campaign finance laws.

Spano defeated Neil Combee of Lakeland in the Republican primary for the open House seat, and Democrat Kristen Carlson in the general election.

But amid controversy over his campaign finance irregularities, he lost the 2020 Republican primary election to Scott Franklin of Lakeland, who now holds the seat, since reconfigured in redistricting.

Lakeland Democrat Jan Barrow, a Carlson supporter, filed a complaint against Spano to the FEC, while Carlson and Combee filed complaints to the U.S. Justice Department.

An investigation by the House Committee on Ethics was put on hold at the request of the Justice Department, but Karlson said she has not heard of any results from the Justice Department investigation.

Barrow provided the Times a copy of the conciliation agreement between Spano and the FEC, which hasn’t yet been made a public record.

It says the two lenders, Cary Carreno and Karen L. Hunt, acknowledged they loaned Spano the money to further his campaign, and that he used $15,500 of their loans for personal and business expenses.

Spano, a lawyer who now practices in Riverview, maintained throughout the controversy that he was unaware it was illegal to use the loan proceeds in his campaign.

In the conciliation agreement, he said it was the fault of his campaign consultant, Brock Mikosky, that the financial disclosure was not filed on time, and that Mikosky acknowledged that and paid the late filing fee.

Via text message, Spano added, “It was the honor of a lifetime to serve. While I don’t agree with the FEC’s conclusions, as reflected by my contention language in the Conciliation Agreement, I’ve made the decision to move forward, and I’m focused on serving my family and community in other ways.”

But Barrow said she doesn’t accept that.

“He says he didn’t know any better but he was an attorney and he had professional help,” she said. “What would the outcome (of the 2018 election) have been had he been honest? Maybe Kristen would have won, who knows?”

Carlson said she was “disappointed it took so long. Justice delayed is justice denied.

“But they came to the correct factual conclusions. Scott Franklin was able to campaign on this issue, so you could say that justice was done at the ballot box.”