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MIAMI - A BellSouth lobbyist accused of violating campaign finance rules by using the company's money to finance a public opinion poll for a U.S. Senate candidate didn't break any laws, his attorney said Thursday.
Eliseo R. "Tito" Riera-Gomez pleaded not guilty to 10 charges involving an alleged scheme to disguise company invoices to pay for the poll. He was arrested Wednesday.
His lawyer, Neal Sonnett, said Riera-Gomez was financing a poll for BellSouth and not the candidate, who was not named in the indictment.
"He was not attempting to disguise a contribution to any Senate campaign," Sonnett said.
BellSouth, which still employs Riera-Gomez, said it was cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office but declined further comment Thursday.
An indictment said Riera-Gomez submitted two invoices in March 2003, one for $12,500 and another for $7,500, which were to be paid to FredricksPoll, an Arlington, Va. firm.
The invoices were "false and misleading" because they didn't say the polls were conducted for the benefit of a candidate, the indictment said.