GOP activist Shires gets probation, fine

Scott Shires, a GOP activist and resident of Aurora, appeared in U.S. District Court earlier today and has been sentenced to a year's probation and fined $3,450, the Rocky Mountain News is reporting.

The case is drawing attention due to Shires' close connections with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer. Shires, known as an activist for the Republican Party, has worked to get Republicans elected to the legislature for years and ran for the state house himself in 2000. In 2004 he volunteered on Schaffer's senate campaign, and in 2006 was hired by Schaffer's state Board of Education to handle campaign finance filings.

But it is Shires' connection to business man William Orr that landed him in court today. Shires worked for Octane International, a firm owned by Orr, who was recently convicted of multiple fraud and other counts. The U.S. attorney's office said Orr "misled investors and falsified documents to obtain a $3.6 million grant to study alternative fuels," according to the Rocky.

Shires testified at Orr's trial and pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to file corporate tax returns on behalf of Octane International.  Shires' attorney, Nathan Chambers, said today that Shires invested more than $100,000 in Orr's venture and lost everything, making him "a victim of Orr's shenanigans."

At the beginning of his time at Octane Intl., Shires called on Schaffer to serve on an administering board that Orr created for the alternative fuels grant. Schaffer resigned in March 2005 after learning Orr was under investigation.

U.S. Judge Lewis Babcock said he understands the credibility of witnesses who testify after receiving plea deals. "He agreed to testify honestly and truthfully. I've observed him under oath, and I think he's done his best to do just that," Babcock said, according to the paper's report.

Shires is a West Point graduate and has no previous criminal record. After giving Shires his sentence, Judge Maria Krieger said, "I have no doubt that I will not see you again."