State Auditor Troy Kelley pleads not guilty to new charges

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Washington state Auditor Troy Kelley, who has been on unpaid leave while fighting allegations that he stole millions from clients of his former business, has pleaded not guilty to additional charges of money laundering and tax evasion.

Kelley entered his plea Friday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Washington, a week after a new indictment from a federal grand jury added the counts to a long list of charges that he previously pleaded not guilty on.

The new charges cover actions Kelley allegedly took from 2011 to this year, while he was in office, and say that Kelley laundered money by withdrawing $245,000 annually from a pool of ill-gotten gains.

Kelley, a 50-year-old Democrat from Tacoma, is a former state representative who was elected in 2012 to be Washington's auditor — the state official charged with rooting out waste and fraud in government operations.