Reading campaign finance investigation should conclude soon
(Reading) — An investigation into alleged campaign finance violations in Reading should wrap up in the next couple of weeks.
Berks County District Attorney John Adams is looking into whether the Democratic nominee for Reading mayor, Wally Scott, incorrectly reported a $1,000 campaign contribution.
One of the candidates who lost to Scott, Jeffrey Nein, raised the issue.
The district attorney says to file charges in campaign finance cases, he needs strong evidence the candidate was trying to deceive people.
“In most situations, the mistakes that were made were that, an honest mistake caused many times, by the complicated election laws that we have in place in Pennsylvania,” he says.
But the potential violation only came to light after one of his competitors allegedly taped Scott’s donor in secret.
“I can guarantee you that I have not had a situation where we had a wiretap violation and an elections law violation tied up in the same incident. This was definitely a first,” adds Adams.
Jeffrey Nein didn’t advance to the general election, and recently waived his preliminary hearing on charges of wiretapping and conspiracy.
The DA says a decision on the campaign finance case could come in the next two weeks.
Adams says if Nein is found guilty, he would only expect a sentence to probation and no jail time.
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