WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A federal judge plans to hear oral arguments Friday on whether the federal government needlessly interjected itself in matters traditionally reserved for states when it charged Sedgwick County commissioner Michael ODonnell with fraud.
Prosecutors have accused ODonnell of fraudulently obtaining $10,500 for his personal use from his campaign accounts during his races for the county commission and the Kansas Legislature.
The U.S. Attorneys Office said a hearing before U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren is still scheduled on defense motions just days after prosecutors filed a new indictment. The defense wants the court to dismiss the charges.
In May, ODonnell pleaded not guilty to the initial 12-count indictment charging him with wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering for allegedly stealing $10,500 from his campaign accounts. The expanded 26-count indictment charges him with wire fraud and money laundering but drops the earlier bank fraud counts and some wire fraud counts related to reports filed with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission.
His first court appearance to enter a plea on that new indictment is Aug. 28. Such proceedings in federal court are typically brief, and the federal magistrate can only accept a plea of not guilty at that stage.
