Dote Pleads Guilty To Ten Counts, Ordered To Repay Nearly 60K

Utica, NY (WIBX) - John Dote, the Chairman of the Independence Party of Oneida County entered a guilty plea to ten counts covering three separate indictments in Oneida County Court this morning. Assistant District Attorney Robert Bauer says his guilty plea satisfies a year long investigation. He says Dote will be sentenced on December 12 to serve six months in jail and five years of probation. He said, "A specific term of his probation is going to be that he has to pay back all of the money taken in full, $59,908.00, as well as, that he is to have no involvement whatsoever in politics, or with elected officials during the entire five year time span of his probation."

Dote pleaded guilty to six felonies and four misdemeanors. Bauer says he was handed down the maximum sentence allowed by law. "I would call this a victory for the community in the sense that some of the issues and problems and things their investigation uncovered, with his hands being tied and his inability to be tempted or influenced to involve himself in the electoral process won't be there any longer, and that's a good thing for the community," he said. Bauer says he was facing 5 to 15 years in prison.