COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP, WLTX) - Former state Sen. Robert Ford has pleaded guilty to four of the eight charges against him.
The Charleston Democrat on Wednesday pleaded guilty to misconduct in office, forgery, and two violations of the state ethics law.
Ford was indicted last year. State prosecutors say he improperly benefited from his public office, using campaign money for personal use, then filing false campaign reports and submitting forgeries to the Senate Ethics Committee.
Sentencing has been scheduled for April. Ford faces more than a decade in prison.
After the hearing, Ford told reporters he is innocent and only pleaded guilty to avoid the cost of a trial.
"I'm not guilty," Ford said. "To go to court is a lot of mone, about $125,000. You've got to pay for everything. You got to pay for witnesses, to put people in the hotel, you've just got to pay and there's no way I could come up with that kind of money, so I figured the easier way is to plead guilty."
He called his investigation a "witch hunt."
John Crangle, Executive Director at the public watchdog group SC Common Cause, sat and watched the proceedings Wednesday morning in Judge Robert Hood's courtroom.
"I ain't no damn crook," Ford said before walking away from reporters.
Speaking afterward, Crangle said he believed Ford had been warned "a couple of years ago about misusing campaign money."
"For him to come out and deny that he did anything wrong is just dishonest, Crangle said.
Ford resigned from the Senate in 2013 during hearings on similar allegations.
