Winslow settles fourth ethics infraction with $3K fine

Atlanta City Councilwoman Cleta Winslow, who funneled taxpayer dollars into her last three re-election campaigns, has paid a $3,000 fine to settle the latest ethics case against her.

Following a 2014 investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the city's Ethics Office discovered Winslow donated taxpayer money to a church while campaigning there, dipped into public funds to buy jazz concert tickets for some campaign surveillance and made a city employee into her personal driver while her license was suspended over a DUI.

It's the fourth time Winslow has been in hot water with the Ethics Board, but by paying the fine, she puts the case behind her. She'll also be reprimanded and must hand over quarterly reports of her spending for a year.

If done intentionally, tapping public money for a campaign is a misdemeanor under Georgia law. But Fulton County Solicitor General Carmen Smith told the AJC she will not look into Winslow's case because no agency has referred it to her, and to go after the councilwoman on her own would be "selective prosecution."

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