As the 8-day trial moves towards its final stage, defendant Jason Ellsworth, took the stand. The former State Senate President is charged with Official Misconduct.
At issue, is 2-contracts totaling $170,000, which the State Department of Administration claims were “artificially divided.” Any purchase with state funds over $100,000 goes to that department’s bid process. The claim is that Ellsworth split the contracts in two so he could award the work to his friend, Bryce Eggleston’s Agile Analytics.
On the stand, Ellsworth claimed the “contracts” were “proposals” and that he had another bid from lobbyist Scott Boulanger. Boulanger testified that he bid $315,000 for the work and then back-dated the proposal. Ellsworth said he did that just to throw the press off the scent.
Things get even murkier when the court learned that Eggleston had registered the business, Agile Analytics, only a few weeks earlier.
Closing arguments are expected Wednesday, sending the case to the jury.
If found guilty, Ellsworth could get anywhere from a slap on the hand to 6-months in jail and a maximum $500 fine. And, even though Senate has voted to “forever ban” his from the Senate Floor, he’s still a member of the Senate until the end of this year. Judge Christopher Abbot could, as part of his sentence, remove Ellsworth from his elected office.
