From the Journal Gazette

Former Republican mayoral candidate Matt Kelty now faces a lawsuit from his former campaign chairman in connection with money given to him during the campaign.

Filed on Monday by Fred Rost, who helped with Kelty's 2007 run for the Fort Wayne mayor's seat, the lawsuit seeks a judgment against Kelty in the amount of $125,000, according to court documents.

During the course of the campaign, Rost and campaign manager Glenna Jehl gave Kelty a total of $158,000, which Kelty did not report as a campaign contribution. He said they were personal loans.

But an Allen Superior Court grand jury disagreed and indicted Kelty on seven felony charges and two misdemeanor charges.

In October 2008, on the day his trial was to begin, Kelty pleaded guilty to two felony charges of filing fraudulent campaign reports and one misdemeanor charge of false informing, admitting to lying to the grand jury.

Allen Superior Judge Ken Scheibenberger sentenced Kelty to a year of informal probation, community service and ordered him to pay a small fine.

Since the case ended, Kelty has had public financial struggles – trying unsuccessfully in 2008 to auction his Florida Drive home to pay mounting legal costs.

According to the lawsuit, Rost demanded Kelty repay the promissory note, but Kelty has "refused and continues to refuse."

A message left for Kelty on Tuesday afternoon was not immediately returned.

For more on this story, see Wednesday's print editions of The Journal Gazette or visit www.journalgazette.net after 3 a.m. Wednesday.

rgreen@jg.net