California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Bennett Can Keep Seat on Tax Board
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A Superior Court judge on Friday barred the state from removing veteran Democrat William Bennett from a powerful tax board for falsifying an expense account. Bennett pleaded no contest to collecting an $82 expense check for a Sacramento board meeting without spending the night in Sacramento. Twenty-three felony charges against him were dismissed, but Bennett agreed to pay $5,500 in restitution for other disputed expense claims and was fined $1,500. Bennett’s plea was cited by Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren as grounds for declaring the State Board of Equalization seat vacant and allowing Gov. Pete Wilson to nominate a successor.
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