Jury finds Sedgwick County commissioner not guilty on charges of stealing campaign funds

A federal jury has found Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell not guilty on nearly all charges of taking campaign funds for his personal use.

Jurors on Monday acquitted O’Donnell on 21 counts of wire fraud, but deadlocked on two counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering related to his state and county campaigns. Prosecutors alleged he took $10,500 of campaign funds to put into his personal checking account or give to friends.

O’Donnell testified the payments were legitimate expenses.

The Wichita Republican was elected to the Kansas State Senate in 2012 for a term that ended in January 2017. He did not run for re-election and instead ran for and won a term on the Sedgwick County Commission that began in 2017 and is set to expire in 2020.