Jeff Tucker (Pueblo Chieftain) - Pueblo County Commissioner John Cordova has been fined more than $6,000 for violations of the state's campaign finance laws.

But the argument that Cordova circumvented the finance laws by holding a golf tournament to collect corporate donations was moot, according to a decision from Administrative Law Judge Robert Spencer.

Spencer fined Cordova's candidate committee, Positive People for Commissioner Cordova, $3,825 for accepting corporate donations and not returning them within 30 days.

The candidate committee returned $1,275 worth of corporate donations but failed to do so within the required time limit, Spencer wrote.

A separate political action committee called Building Pueblo's Future was fined $2,550 for accepting individual donations in excess of the $525 limit. The committee organized a golf tournament where local corporations were given a chance to purchase sponsorships and eventually passed the money along to Cordova. The group collected $850 in excess contributions.

The judgment comes after former commissioner candidate Debbie Rose, a Republican, filed a complaint with the Colorado secretary of state.

Rose was defeated by Cordova, the Democrat, in a tight race where she was ahead on Election Day, but lost when provisional ballots were counted several days later.

"It is regrettable that this action had to be taken," Rose said in a written statement. "When I first learned of the illegal corporate contributions personally solicited by Mr. Cordova, I called on Mr. Cordova to stop his solicitations and return the illegal contributions. If he had promptly done that in accord with state law, then that would have been the end of this whole deplorable incident."

However, according to Spencer's decision, three other counts were dismissed and Cordova did not dispute the evidence provided in the two counts for which he issued fines.

"There were five issues alleged and we conceded on counts one and three," Cordova said. "We'll probably ask for a reconsideration of the fines. They seemed a little higher than in the past. We'll probably ask for a reconsideration and then pay them."

According to Spencer's decision, Rose claimed Cordova violated campaign finance law in three other ways.

Rose alleged that Building Pueblo's Future violated the law by acting as a conduit to funnel corporate money to Cordova's candidate committee. She also said that the candidate committee violated the law by accepting the money.

Building Pueblo's Future held a golf tournament that raised nearly $8,000 of corporate donations, then wrote an $8,000 check to Cordova's candidate committee.

Spencer ruled that, according to state law, there's nothing wrong with that.

For the full story, please click here.