The Kentucky-based head of a libertarian super PAC that spent more than $500,000 in a Northern Kentucky congressional primary this year is due in court Wednesday on a felony charge related to a drunken-driving arrest last year. <\/p>\n
Preston Bates, 23, the executive director of Liberty for All, refused to give a corrections officer any personal information other than his name and then said that he was an anarchist when he was arrested last July near the University of Louisville. <\/p>\n
According to the arrest report, Bates pulled up to a residence on Bellamy Place at 3 a.m. July 3, 2011, but when he couldnt get into the residence, Bates backed his car into an iron fence. <\/p>\n
The report says Bates then got out of the car and staggered toward corrections officers who were at the scene. He refused to give them any personal information beyond his name and, according to the report, declared himself an anarchist. <\/p>\n
Bates blood-alcohol level was 0.121 percent, according to the police report. Those with blood-alcohol readings of 0.08 percent and above are presumed to be drunk, under Kentucky law. <\/p>\n
Bates is charged with driving under the influence, second-degree disorderly conduct and first-degree criminal mischief. The criminal mischief charge is a class D felony, punishable by one to five years in prison. <\/p>\n
He has pleaded not guilty. <\/p>\n
Neither Bates nor his lawyer, Dennis Burke, returned phone calls. <\/p>\n
Bates and the super PAC he runs burst onto the scene this year, spending more than $561,000 to help Thomas Massie win the Republican nomination for Congress in Kentuckys 4th District. Virtually all of the groups money comes from John Ramsey, a 21-year-old Texas millionaire who decided to become a political player after supporting U.S. Rep. Ron Pauls presidential campaign. <\/p>\n
Bates has said hes considering using Ramseys fortune to go after Kentucky state House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, D-Louisville, who fired Bates as an intern in 2008. Bates said that if he tries to unseat Clark, it will have nothing to do with the fact that Clark fired him. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Follow this link:<\/p>\n
Libertarian leader faces charge<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Kentucky-based head of a libertarian super PAC that spent more than $500,000 in a Northern Kentucky congressional primary this year is due in court Wednesday on a felony charge related to a drunken-driving arrest last year. Preston Bates, 23, the executive director of Liberty for All, refused to give a corrections officer any personal information other than his name and then said that he was an anarchist when he was arrested last July near the University of Louisville. According to the arrest report, Bates pulled up to a residence on Bellamy Place at 3 a.m Continue reading