Lawmakers plead guilty in obstruction case, resign

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith pleaded guilty Tuesday to two federal counts of obstruction of justice tied to his failed 2004 congressional campaign and resigned, ending what was once thought to be a promising political career.

State Rep. Steve Brown, a fellow St. Louis-area Democrat who aided Smith's campaign, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to obstruct justice and also resigned. Smith's 2004 campaign treasurer, Nick Adams, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Federal authorities called it "a classic corruption case" in which one lie built on another as Smith sought to hide his role in coordinating the distribution of negative campaign materials by a supposedly independent group against his leading primary opponent, Russ Carnahan.

"I wrongly believed we could conceal my campaign's coordination with the independent operator," Smith confessed to U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson during Tuesday's plea hearing. "I'm guilty as charged, and I take full responsibility for my mistake."

Smith, Brown and Adams face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count, though court documents show sentencing guidelines of 15 to 21 months. Prosecutors said they would recommend further reducing the sentences for Brown and Adams because of their "substantial assistance" in ultimately unraveling Smith's cover-up.

Sentencing for all three men is scheduled for Nov. 10.

Gov. Jay Nixon set a Nov. 3 special election to replace Smith and Brown.

Smith, 35, was a political science instructor at Washington University in St. Louis when he made his political debut in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt. Brown, 42, was an assistant attorney general under Nixon who took leave in 2004 to manage his boss's re-election campaign and to aid Smith, a longtime friend.

Their troubles began when Milton "Skip" Ohlsen III -- identified in court documents only as "John Doe" -- approached Smith's campaign in July 2004 and offered to produce and distribute negative ads aimed at Carnahan. Smith approved the plan, Brown raised money for the effort and Adams and other Smith aides provided Ohlsen negative information about Carnahan to use in the ads, according to court documents.

Carnahan's campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging improper coordination between Smith's campaign and the supposedly independent group that distributed the postcards and fliers.

Smith submitted a false affidavit to the FEC in September 2004, claiming: "To the best of my knowledge and belief, no one who was part of the Friends of Jeff Smith Committee nor any other group or organization under my control participated in any manner in the creation, printing, copying, distribution, mailing, or financing of any of the documents."

Adams, 29, also denied involvement to the FEC. At Smith's behest, Brown in November 2006 offered Ohlsen promises of future political work if he, too, would lie to the FEC about the Smith campaign's role in the negative ads. The FEC decided in December 2007 not to take any action against Smith, saying there was no reason to believe federal laws were violated.

Smith won election to the state Senate in 2006 and Brown to the state House in 2008. Ohlsen was arrested on federal fraud and firearms charges in an unrelated case in December. He later pleaded guilty.

The FBI and the federal prosecutor's office in St. Louis opened a new investigation in January into Smith's congressional campaign, acting on what they described as "newly discovered information." Both agencies on Tuesday declined to discuss whether Ohlsen aided their investigation, though his attorney has denied that Ohlsen was cooperating.

Court documents show that federal agents monitored several conversations among Smith, Brown and Adams in June as they conspired about how to lie to investigators. At one point, Smith suggested a deceased former staffer "would totally want us to throw him under the bus here." He also was recorded directing Adams to buy three prepaid cell phones so the trio could try to avoid being tracked by authorities. Smith acknowledged in his written plea document that he made "numerous false statements" in a June 30 interview with the FBI.

John Gillies, the FBI agent in charge of the St. Louis office, told reporters outside the courthouse that the attempted cover-up was "pure stupidity" by several highly educated individuals.

"You got a Ph.D., a JD from Washington University and another guy with a master's, and all this for what at the end of the day? Just so they could get a little more power, feel a little bit better about themselves that they're big shots in town," Gillies said.

Smith apologized for his actions in a statement Tuesday, saying, "I have done some significant introspection, and that has been the hardest part, coming to terms with my own poor judgments and mistakes."

Brown said outside of court that he still has "a passion and commitment to public service" and hopes to return to it after fulfilling his sentence.

Carnahan, who defeated Smith by fewer than 2,000 votes out of the more than 107,000 cast in the 2004 Democratic primary, went on to win the general election and still holds Missouri's 3rd Congressional District seat. He declined through a spokeswoman to comment Tuesday.

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Associated Press writers Jim Salter and Cheryl Wittenauer in St. Louis and Chris Blank in Jefferson City contributed to this report.