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Toronto, A Toronto city councillor pleaded guilty to four charges under the Municipal Elections Act, agreeing to pay a penalty for exceeding the elections spending limit in 2010.
Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti, the representative of Ward 7 (York West), agreed to pay a penalty of $17,500 on Friday, putting an end to a two-year investigation.
“In an effort to resolve the matter and to continue representing the community I did plead guilty with the understanding that it was inadvertent,” Mammoliti said Friday.
“I will get back to work now and move on. It closes a chapter.”
The investigation into Mammoliti’s spending began in January 2013, when an independent audit of election expenses found that the councillor exceeded the $30,000 campaign spending limit by approximately $12,000.
The audit, conducted by Froese Forensic Partners, claimed that Mammoliti failed to report 2010 campaign expenses purchased using his personal credit card. The audit also claimed he improperly reported other expenses.
On Friday, Mammoliti admitted to exceeding the spending limit by $10,000 and omitting some expenses from his final paperwork. The agreed statement of facts read in court omitted approximately $2,000 in campaign costs listed in the initial audit.
He pleaded guilty to four of the five spending-related charges, and as a result faced a lighter sentence than had he been found guilty in a trial. If he’d been found guilty he could have been removed from office.
