Bowles and Etheridge say they didn't know of contributor's crimes

Two N.C. candidates for federal office this year will return campaign contributions from a Johnston County man who admitted running an illegal video poker operation.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Erskine Bowles and U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., each received $1,000 contributions earlier this year from David Ricky Godwin.

Federal authorities announced this week that Godwin and his brother pleaded guilty last year to crimes related to video gambling.

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Bowles' contribution will be returned to Godwin, while Etheridge will give his donation to charity, their staff members said. The candidates say they didn't know about Godwin's crimes, according to the staffs.

At the plea announcement Wednesday, the campaign finance reform group Democracy North Carolina provided a list showing the Godwin brothers and family members gave more than $32,000 to state and local candidates and other campaign committees from 1997 to 2002.

Investigators wouldn't say Wednesday why they waited a year before asking federal District Court Judge Terrence Boyle to unseal the guilty pleas.

Other elected officials who received money during that period included Gov. Mike Easley and Rep. Leo Daughtry, R-Johnston, a lawyer who represents the N.C. Amusement Machine Association. The association includes video poker operators. Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine received a donation from Godwin in March.

Other donations went to the district attorneys overseeing the counties in which the brothers placed their machines.

None of the elected officials has been tied to the federal-state investigation.

The head of the FBI's Raleigh office said Thursday investigators continue to look into links between video poker interests and politicians.

The state House passed a bill this year that its supporters said would toughen monitoring of machines and raise penalties against people operating illegal machines. The Senate, which has passed outright bans on the machines three times since 2000, never debated the idea before adjournment in July.

Many sheriffs have urged the legislature to ban the industry. House Co-Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, has said video poker is a lawful industry that creates jobs and shouldn't be eliminated. Black was the top recipient of video poker industry donations in the General Assembly two years ago, according to Democracy North Carolina.

Source: Associated Press