By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The former treasurer of U.S. Rep. John Boehner's re-election fund pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing more than $600,000 in missing campaign contributions.

Russell E. Roberts, 36, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati after federal prosecutors accused him of shifting campaign funds to his private accounts for nearly nine years.

U.S. Attorney Gregory Lockhart said Roberts electronically withdrew a large portion of the money at gambling casinos in Indiana.

Roberts pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of stolen property and causing false reports to be filed with the Federal Elections Commission. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

Boehner and members of his staff have said the loss of the money was discovered earlier this year during an audit of the Friends of John Boehner Committee's books. In a letter to 8,000 supporters in March, Boehner called Roberts a trusted employee whose "deceptions were very clever."

When Roberts was confronted about the missing money, authorities say, he initially claimed a March 2001 flood destroyed computer records related to the funds. In a letter to the FEC in April, Boehner's lawyer said Roberts later admitted "he had been misappropriating committee funds to support a gambling habit."

Boehner assured supporters in his March letter that changes had been made to prevent such thefts.

The West Chester Republican is a major GOP player in Washington and typically raises more than $1 million on each re-election campaign. A spokesman, Steve Forde, said Boehner has cooperated with investigators and has dramatically improved safeguards.

Those safeguards include an independent audit every two years.

Roberts, of Fairfield, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

He will be sentenced by Judge Sandra Beckwith, but a date has not been set.