AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A Texas state appellate court says indictments against two associates of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, are valid and should stand.
James Ellis and John Colyando, who formerly worked for a political action committee known as Texans for a Republican Majority, were indicted for money laundering resulting from DeLay's efforts to raise corporate contributions for Republican candidates for the 2002 election, the Houston Chronicle reported.
They had challenged the constitutionality of the state's money laundering statutes, but the appeals court ruled the law was not vague or overbroad, the newspaper said.
"The challenged statutes give constitutionally adequate notice of the conduct prohibited and sufficiently determine guidelines for law enforcement," Third Court of Appeals Justice Alan Waldrop wrote in a 46-page opinion issued late Friday.
Ellis, Colyando and DeLay are accused of conspiring to funnel $190,000 in corporate cash illegally to seven Texas House of Representatives candidates in the 2002 elections. The three contend the transactions done by Texans for a Republican Majority were completely legal.
