By Christopher Williams,Staff Writer

A state ethics commission probe into the spending practices of two publicly funded legislative campaigns in 2004 has revealed tangled connections among almost a dozen people, all rooted in central and western Maine.

At the center of the probe appear to be Daniel Rogers of Lewiston and Jessica Larlee of Minot, who apparently worked on several campaigns in this region over the years – sometimes in only minor roles as volunteers.

The man who brought them together was John Michael of Auburn, a former state legislator and unsuccessful gubernatorial and congressional candidate.

Michael has also worked as a professional initiator of and consultant for referendum drives, and, according to Larlee’s testimony before the commission, Rogers worked with Michael on several drives, including repeal of the snack tax.

During a recent interview at her Minot apartment, Larlee said Michael gave her a start in politics five years ago when she was a student at the University of Maine at Augusta and interning for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

On her 21st birthday, Larlee met Michael at The Cage, a Lewiston bar. He had heard about her and asked to meet her, she said.

“That’s how it all started. Little did I know.”

He offered her a job collecting signatures for a petition drive to put him on the ballot for governor.

“I ended up being really good at getting signatures,” she said. “It was like my first real job, ever.”

Rogers was her supervisor.

$50,000 in public money

During testimony, Larlee and others confirmed that she and Rogers signed up the two candidates being investigated by the commission – Sarah Trundy of Minot and Julia St. James of Hartford – with Rogers as a campaign consultant and Larlee as treasurer.

Ultimately, the two Clean Election candidates received more than $50,000 in taxpayer money to help run their campaigns, but did not properly account for the vast majority of it, according to the commission.

The connections between Rogers, Larlee and at least a half-dozen other people who have come to the commission’s interest spread from there.

Certainly one of the most interesting involves former Lewiston state representative Stavros Mendros, currently a city councilor.

Mendros is one of Rogers’ former clients, working on Mendros’ primary campaign for Congress in 2002. Mendros appeared before the commission last Wednesday after he was issued a subpoena. The commission had connected Mendros to the St. James and Trundy campaigns through St. James’ testimony.

She said that during the campaign, Larlee staged a fake date between St. James with Mendros in an effort to get him to turn over his Republican voter list. The two met over drinks at the Cage in Lewiston, the same bar where Larlee had met Michael five years earlier.

During his testimony Wednesday, Mendros acknowledged the date, but denied ever having such a list that would have been useful to the St. James campaign.

Mendros, who said he lets Rogers use his Main Street apartment as a crash pad, last month accompanied Rogers to the Lewiston Police Station to be served a subpoena for the ethics commission hearing.

At the same time, Rogers was arrested on an outstanding warrant for failing to pay fines after being convicted of writing bad checks.

‘Niche’ candidates

The commission’s investigation of the Trundy and St. James races has revealed other interesting connections involving Rogers and Larlee.

For instance, while working on Trundy’s campaign, Larlee wrote a check for $750 to pro-marijuana activist Aaron Fuda of Norway in exchange for a list of supporters of decriminalization. Larlee also heads the Maine chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws.

According to Larlee, Rogers culled from that list the names of registered voters who were living in Trundy’s House district. Asked by commissioners if she could see how such a list would be useful to her, Trundy said she couldn’t.

Larlee also testified that she and Rogers recruited a transient Lewiston man, identified as Major Isaac Pike, to be a third-party candidate for a state Senate race. Larlee said their intent was to divert Democrats’ attention from St. James’ race. But Rogers denied that in testimony Wednesday, saying Pike was a legitimate “niche” candidate well versed in homeless issues.

The connections revealed during commission testimony appear to have been limited by Rogers’ refusal to name names, saying he feared clients and other politicians in his periphery would be dragged into the investigation.

Although Rogers stonewalled commissioners, Larlee told them at an October hearing that Rogers worked on campaigns of several central Maine candidates, including Belinda and Bruce Gerry, both of Auburn.

When contacted later, Bruce Gerry said Rogers helped distribute political signs, but never handled any money other than possibly donating to Gerry’s 2000 campaign for state representative.

Sister Belinda Gerry, a former state representative and current Auburn city councilor, said Rogers was never paid to do anything for her campaign, either.

Larlee told the commission Rogers also worked for Leah Poulin’s campaign for Lewiston School Committee. Poulin, contacted at home, denied Rogers’ involvement, saying there was no actual campaign.

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