Saunders pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion, two countsof money laundering, one count of conspiracy and one count ofstructuring transactions to avoid federal currency reports.
Saunders is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 18.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Duffy told U.S. District JudgeMalcolm Howard that Saunders used money she extorted as a stateofficial to pay off Phipps' campaign debts.
"The defendant provided the currency to a member of the Phippsfamily that was used to repay bank debts," he said.
Saunders, 43, had been charged with 17 counts, including mailand wire fraud, conspiracy, extortion by a public official, moneylaundering and structuring transactions to avoid reporting them.
Saunders left the courthouse without talking to the media, but her attorney, Michael Grace, said his client has agreed tocooperate with federal investigators, but no sentencing dealhas been made.
"I can assure you that what my client has pled guilty to is not something that she did at her own instance," he said. "She had nothing to gain by structuring any transactions. I mean, it's not her campaign. It's not her money."
Saunders faces a maximumpenalty of 90 years in prison and a $2 million fine. U.S. AttorneyFrank Whitney said she will receive a substantially lightersentence, but his office will not have a say about the judge'sdecision.
"Public corruption at any level of government is unacceptable," Whitney said. "Public corruption at the highest level of government, as here, is unconscionable, and we are not going to accept any level of public corruption and we are going to continue our investigation with the support of the FBI and SBI."
Former Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture Bobby McLambpleaded guilty in April to extorting money from potential StateFair vendors and conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. McLambagreed to cooperate with investigators.
The Phipps campaign's efforts to raise money to repay debt arethe source of Saunders' and McLamb's problems.
Phipps' campaign for agriculture commissioner left her more than$500,000 in debt. McLamb, who ran against Phipps in the primarybefore joining her campaign, racked up $100,000 of his own debt,much of which was paid by Phipps' campaign, the indictment said.
Phipps has not been charged. She has said she did not know thatcampaign funds were being used to help pay McLamb's debt.
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