Former workers’ comp official to plead guilty

? The former chief financial officer for the Ohio workers’ compensation fund will plead guilty to trading investment opportunities for gifts, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Terrence Gasper is accused of accepting money, college tuition for his son and stays at a Florida condominium.

The state racketeering and money-laundering charges represent the latest development in a scandal that has upended Ohio politics and led to ethics charges against Republican Gov. Bob Taft.

Gasper, 59, will admit that he received $25,000 from rare coin dealer Tom Noe in return for doling out investment business from the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation to Noe, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said. Prosecutors allege Noe funneled the money to Gasper through Gasper’s girlfriend at the time.

Gasper also will plead guilty to state charges of failing to disclose the source of income, gifts, travel, meals and entertainment on mandatory financial disclosure forms from 1999 through 2005.

Gasper will enter his plea at a hearing Wednesday, O’Brien said. He could face more than five years in prison.