Redlight camera lobbyist agrees to plea to extortion charges

John Raphael, the Columbus lobbyist at the heart of the city’s red-light-camera bribery scandal, has agreed to plea to charges of extortion in U.S. District Court. Federal investigators have been looking into bribes that Karen Finley, the former CEO of Redflex, the red-light camera company, said she funneled through Raphael to the campaigns of several Columbus elected officials. Finley said in federal court documents released in June that she gave Raphael money to bribe elected officials t