MOUTH OF THE ELK - Will Oshel Craigo Rise From The Dust?

(01/12/2006)

Will Oshel Craigo rise from the political dust to run for the State Senate? There's a pretty good chance. Sen. Lisa Smith (pictured left) resigned her seat in the Senate in late 2004, citing health concerns, after she pulled off a major upset in the November 2002 election when she defeated then State Senate Finance Committee Chairman Oshel Craigo. Smith served in the House of Delegates several years before her run for the Senate. Smith allegedly didn't pay thousands of dollars in federal income taxes and sent fraudulent information to the Secretary of State's office about campaign contributions. She was indicted Tuesday on 16 federal criminal counts by a grand jury in Charleston. Smith's husband Mark was named in 14 of the 16 criminal counts. They allegedly didn't pay taxes on their home health care businesses and on their employees at Elite Professional Health Associates and Elite Health Care from 2002 to 2005. Lisa Smith was also indicted on two counts of mailing false campaign contribution information to the state. The Smiths will be arraigned on January 26.

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