Petersen, who regarded the request as "a typical Chicago alderman tactic" complied, sending $500 checks to the campaigns of state Sens. Rod Moen, D-Whitehall, and Kim Plache, D-Racine. After gaining assurances the checks were in the mail, Chvala kept the provision in the two-year budget.

A group of neighbors later objected, hiring lobbyist Eric Petersen in 1999 and 2000. Petersen told investigators he handed Chvala three checks made out to Senate Democratic candidates from the Black Point neighbors. In 2001, Chvala and other legislators amended the budget to remove the provision but the amendment was vetoed by Gov. Scott McCallum.

When Malkasian asked Chvala about scheduling it for a vote in his house, he said, "Bill, you're asking for something but you have not earned it. You have not done anything to show me that it is in my best interest to work with you on this issue."

Chvala had previously asked the Realtors to give the State Senate Democratic Committee $6,000, but the group had only given $3,000. Malkasian said Chvala demanded an additional $4,500. The group made the payment, and the bill passed the Senate.

Sheforgen took that to be a threat that Chvala would tie up legislation sought by the association. When no counter-donations were made, Chvala refused to acknowledge Sheforgen, saying, "You had your chance."

The complaint details several other threats Chvala made to lobbyists.

Chvala also directed the substantial resources of the taxpayer-funded Senate Democratic Caucus toward campaigns, including providing campaign workers to go door-to-door, raise money, organize donor and voter lists and prepare campaign literature, the complaint said. One of those workers, Julie Laundrie, said she spent "at least 90 percent" of her time running the 1998 campaign of Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton.

The allegations echo those first raised by a series in the Wisconsin State Journal in May 2001. That series prompted the investigation that led to Thursday's charges.

At one point during the 2000 campaign of state Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, Chvala handed caucus worker Lance Walter an envelope containing $1,500 in cash, saying it had been raised "by a group who passed the hat" for Hansen, the complaint said. Chvala had already donated the maximum $1,000 to Hansen's campaign.
indentWalter said he deposited $1,000 of the cash in his own account, then transferred it to a joint account with his wife, who wrote a check to Hansen. He gave the remaining $500 to another caucus employee, who wrote another check.
indentNine of the 20 charges revolve around Chvala's alleged schemes to secretly funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars from unions, corporate political-action committees and corporations through various groups secretly operated by Chvala and into targeted Senate races.
indentThe largest, Independent Citizens for Democracy (ICD), spent more than $500,000 in the 2000 campaign season to benefit three candidates: Hansen, Sen. Mark Meyer of LaCrosse, and Sen. Alice Clausing of Menomonie. Clausing lost her bid for re-election.
indentThe complaint alleged that Chvala and Burnett controlled all aspects of those Senate campaigns at the same time directing so-called independent expenditures made on behalf of those candidates. By so doing, the complaint alleged, Chvala violated the state law that allows such groups to collect and spend as much as they wish so long as they sign an oath saying their efforts were not coordinated with any candidate or campaign.
indentBecause of the alleged cooperation, Chvala was charged with filing false reports and exceeding campaign contribution limits.
indentThe complaint alleges that the two names listed on the ICD campaign reports - director Thomas Boeder and treasurer Scott McCormick - were little more than "figureheads" who operated at the direction of Chvala and Burnett. Both Boeder and McCormick were granted immunity in July after invoking their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
indentBurnett's cooperation with the investigation apparently came just Wednesday, the day before charges were filed. In exchange, the complaint said, Burnett agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of illegally coordinating campaign activity.
indent"Mr. Burnett stated that he and defendant (Chvala) designed a scheme to hide defendant's control of Independent Citizens for Democracy," the complaint said. "Under this scheme, defendant (Chvala) directed Mr. Burnett, who in turn directed Thomas Boeder, who in turn operated Independent Citizens for Democracy ... so that Mr. Boeder would never know of, and could not be a witness to, defendant's control of Independent Citizens for Democracy."
indentThe complaint said Burnett and Chvala also intentionally kept their control of ICD secret from Clausing, Hansen and Meyer and from the Senate Democratic Caucus staffers who were running those campaigns.
indentWith lobbyists, however, Chvala was very forthright about his involvement, the complaint said. The Senate's most powerful member allegedly was meticulous in directing lobbyists to write checks for specific amounts either directly to the groups he controlled or to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C., which Chvala would personally handle. The DLCC then returned the money to Independent Citizens for Democracy.
indentInvestigators quoted Madison lobbyist Michael Bright as saying that Chvala "specifically stated that Mr. Bright's clients could keep their political contributions 'under the radar' by directing monies 'across the Potomac' to the DLCC," which is not required to report either its spending or contributors.
indentIn one convoluted transaction, the complaint alleged, Chvala directed Mark Williamson, a lobbyist for Madison Gas and Electric, to send checks from three company subsidiaries totaling $25,000 to the Kansas Democratic Party, which returned all the money to Independent Citizens for Democracy. Kansas allows direct corporate contributions to campaigns; Wisconsin does not. No charges stemmed from that transaction.
indent

State Journal reporter Scott Milfred contributed to this report.