BREAKING NEWS: State Senator Ernest Newton to step down

Today's Hartford Couranrt is reporting that State Senator Ernest Newton will be resigning today and will make the announcement at 11 am today.

From the Hartford Courant

State Sen. Ernest Newton is expected to resign as early as today amid an FBI probe into allegations that he accepted a bribe in exchange for securing state funding for a nonprofit agency, sources said Wednesday night.

Newton has scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. today in his hometown of Bridgeport to discuss his future, according to legislators and legislative aides.

Capitol insiders cautioned that the sometimes volatile Newton could change his mind at the last minute, but added that his intentions were clear on Wednesday.

"I know for a fact he's resigning," said a knowledgeable source.

Newton, a Democrat who has served for 17 years in the legislature, has been under increasing pressure to resign since Warren Keith Godbolt, the executive director of a Bridgeport training agency, pleaded guilty Aug. 2 in federal court in Bridgeport to paying cash bribes to an unnamed public official - believed be Newton. A federal prosecutor said in court last month that the FBI had wiretap evidence of a telephone conversation on June 17, 2004, regarding the bribe.

If would be best at this point if Newton resigns. The more we heard about the details in the bribery case, the more we heard bad things about Newton so always seemed like we would come to this day.

Hopefully, the people of Brigeport can can move on from this scandal.