It is this kind of reporting that critics will use to justify the demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
A former state legislator who filed for unemployment insurance benefits to which he was not entitled will spend 10 months behind bars after pleading guilty to mail fraud.
Paul King, 58, a House Democrat who represented Mountlake Terrace, conspired with the daughter of a former girlfriend to defraud the state Employment Security Department by submitting bogus documents falsely claiming he was an employee of a business that was not active and had no employees, according to the indictment.
In December 2004, King filed for unemployment benefits and by May 2005 had received more than $12,200 “to which he was not entitled,” the indictment says.
King is also accused of filing fraudulent documents on behalf of the daughter — identified in the indictment only as C.L. — who ultimately received $12,800 to which she was not entitled.
In June 2005, King sent a refund check to Employment Security for $12,480.
King practiced law in Snohomish and King counties. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lord, in asking for a sentence on the high end of the sentencing guidelines, said King “routinely used his profession and knowledge of the legal system to unethically manipulate and influence others.”
Question for Wizbang readers. What is missing from the above story. We’ll play some Final Jeopardy music……
If you said when did Paul King serve as a state legistator and for what party, you are absolutely correct. Associated Press supplies us with the answer.
Paul H. King formerly lived in Mountlake Terrace and represented the 44th District as a Democrat in the state House from 1983 to 1989.
There PI staff, I got the information you neglected to report.
In related news–
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that its owner, Hearst Corp., has made offers to some staffers to participate in an online-only version of the newspaper.
The paper says an unspecified number of the P-I’s roughly 180 employees received “provisional offers” Wednesday and Thursday to work for the online venture, if the Web site is approved by Hearst’s senior management.
Hearst announced in January it would put the P-I up for sale and either close the paper or go to an online-only publication if it couldn’t find a buyer by March 10. There has been no word on a possible buyer.
Doug at Below the Beltway writes–
If Hearst does indeed decide to take the Post-Intelligencer strictly online, it will be an interesting experiment to watch. In many ways, they’ll be the first ones to do something that, before long, every newspaper in America is going to have to seriously consider.
I imagine other newspaper owners would watch the Seattle PI in order to see if they thrive as a only online edition or it is just putting off the inevitable.
Update- I goofed. No excuse given, but the article still left out when King served.
