Ethics officials fine New York Gov. Paterson for soliciting free World Series tickets

Albany, NY, United States (AHN) – Ethics officials in New York have ordered Gov. David Paterson to pay a fine for accepting free World Series tickets and then lying about the gift during a state investigation.

Paterson, who ends his term in 10 days, was meted a $62,125 civil penalty for soliciting and receiving tickets to last year’s game between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies.

The fine covers the cost of the tickets and three violations of the publc officers law, each worth $25,000.

“The moral and ethical tone of any organization is set at the top. Unfortunately the Governor set a totally inappropriate tone by his dishonest and unethical conduct,” Michael Cherkasky, chair of the state Commission on Public Integrity, said in a statement.

The issue of the tickets was one of several controversies that brought down the hopes of Paterson for a full term as governor. The ethics panel charged Paterson in March for violating the gift ban, an allegation the governor denied by saying he had intended to pay for the five tickets costing $2,125 in total.

Paterson used the tickets for himself, his teenage son, his son’s friend, then-aide David Johnson and another aide at the opening game of the 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium. He had claimed to be at the event in an official capacity but by his own admission did not perform any ceremonial functions and was not recognized during the public address announcement.

The governor was also investigated early this year by an independent counsel appointed by the state attorney general for his role in a domestic violence case against Johnson, who has been removed from the governor’s staff and charged with assault.

Paterson, 56, was accused of using the state police to pressure Johnson’s former girlfriend not to press charges. He was cleared of any wrongdoing this summer, but the independent counsel said the governor committed “errors in judgment” when he made numerous phone calls to his aide’s former girlfriend.

The state’s first black governor, Paterson took office in 2008 when he left ast lieutenant governor to succeed Eliot Spitzer, who resigned amid a prostitution scandal.

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