Former Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board Chairman G. Kenneth Bernhard, of Westport, has agreed to pay a $3,500 fine for making three prohibited political contributions while serving as a board member, the Office of State Ethics announced Friday.
The fine was agreed to in a settlement of a case involving three political contributions totaling $250 by Bernhard in 2008, including two to state legislative candidates and one to Gov M. Jodi Rell's exploratory campaign committee.
Bernhard, a lawyer and former Republican state legislator, resigned from the board March 4, shortly after The Courant disclosed he had made the donations, which members of the ethics board and the staff of the state ethics office are not allowed to make to anyone who is subject to the group of state laws known as the Code of Ethics for Public Officials.