Via the Wall Street Journal:
NEW HAVEN, Conn.—Former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland was convicted Thursday of all charges in a scheme to circumvent federal campaign-finance rules.
This is the second time in a decade the one-time rising star in the Republican Party has been found guilty of breaking the law.
The first conviction came in 2004 when Mr. Rowland pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge for taking bribes from state contractors. The scandal forced him to resign in the middle of his third term, and he spent 10 months in prison.
Now, after a two-week trial, Mr. Rowland was convicted in connection to his role in concealing his role in two congressional campaigns.
He was accused of one count of conspiracy, two counts of falsifying records in a federal investigation, two charges of causing false statements and two counts of making illegal campaign contributions.
Prosecutors said Mr. Rowland attempted to skirt campaign-disclosure laws by hiding his involvement in the 2012 congressional campaign of Lisa Wilson-Foley. Ms. Wilson-Foley and Mr. Rowland sought to avoid disclosing his role because they feared the former governor would attract negative press coverage stemming from his past legal troubles, according to prosecutors.
Ms. Wilson and her husband, Brian Foley, both pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to make illegal campaign contributions.
Before his involvement with Ms. Wilson-Foley's campaign, prosecutors said Mr. Rowland attempted to forge a similar arrangement in 2009 and 2010 with Mark Greenberg, another candidate for congress. Mr. Greenberg, a real-estate executive, said Mr. Rowland proposed in 2009 to become a political consultant with his campaign.
But Mr. Greenberg said Mr. Rowland refused to to be paid for through his congressional campaign. Instead, Mr. Rowland asked to paid through Mr. Greenberg's non-profit or another of his businesses, Mr. Greenberg said.
Mr. Greenberg decided not to hire Mr. Rowland.