PHOENIX (Tuesday, February 08, 2011) -- Attorney General Tom Horne announced today that Robert Mark Green, 48 of Phoenix, entered a guilty plea today to resolve his pending felony charges in Maricopa County Superior Court. Green pleaded guilty to forgery, a felony, admitting that he falsified a "Participating Candidate's Application to Receive Funds and Qualifying Contribution Report" filed with the Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission on March 8, 2010, as part of Green's campaign for the Republican nomination for State Senate in Legislative District 7.
“Misuse of the State’s public funds and fraud will not be tolerated. I thank the Clean Elections Commission and the Secretary of State’s office for their cooperation in this matter,” Horne said.
Green has agreed to pay a $9,479 fine, repay $11,060.63 in investigation costs, and has agreed to not seek funds from the Citizen's Clean Election Commission while he is on probation. Green could serve up to four years on probation, and could be ordered to serve up to a year in the Maricopa County Jail. Green will be sentenced on March 8, at 8:30 a.m. before Judge John Hannah.
“The message here is that people who cheat our election system and get caught, will pay a serious penalty,” said Todd Lang, Executive Director of the Clean Elections Commission.