Berryhill Brothers Could Face Fines

The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission has issued a report that comes down hard on Senator Tom Berryhill and Assembly member Bill Berryhill.

News reports first started surfacing in 2010 about the accusations of a money-laundering type scheme that occurred leading up to the 2008 election. Tom Berryhill held a fundraiser in October of 2008 for his campaign against 19-year-old Taylor White of Modesto. Around $50K was raised at the event. A couple of days later, $20K was donated by his campaign to the Stanislaus County Republican Central Committee. On that same day, the county committee donated $20K to Assembly member Bill Berryhill’s re-election campaign.

The following day, a $20K donation was given by Tom’s campaign to the San Joaquin County Republican Central Committee. The committee then turned around and donated $20K to Bill’s campaign.

Tom won his Senate race convincingly, and Bill narrowly edged out his race.

The Fair Political Practices Commission argues that the moves were done in hopes of dodging the rules that limit individual campaign contributions. The report was finalized last month, and indicates that the men could face a fine of up to $80K.

Tom Berryhill’s District 14 covers Tuolumne County.