Ex-Missouri Gov. Wilson gets probation

• Tweet

ST. LOUIS, July 9 (UPI) -- Former Missouri Gov. Roger Wilson was sentenced to two years of probation Monday for misusing money to make political donations.

Wilson appeared before Chief U.S. Magistrate Mary Ann Medler, who had accepted his guilty plea in April, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported.

Wilson was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service.

Wilson and St. Louis attorney Edward Griesedieck pleaded guilty to charges they acted with now-deceased Douglas Morgan to hide Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance Co. as the source of a $5,000 contribution to the Missouri Democratic Party.

The contribution was made in 2009 by Griesedieck's law firm and reimbursed from Missouri Employers Mutual funds.

Wilson was interim president of Missouri Employers Mutual, Morgan, who died last year, was the company's board chairman and Griesedieck's firm handled the firm's legal work, the Daily Tribune said.

Wilson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of misappropriating company funds. Since his plea, Wilson paid a $2,000 fine to the Missouri Ethics Commission for participating in the scheme to hide the true source of the contributions.