Ohio Gov. Bob Taft has been charged with four ethics violations for failing to report dozens of gifts that included dinners, golf games and professional hockey tickets, deepening a scandal that has rocked Ohio’s Republican Party. Taft is a Republican and a descendant of President Taft. He becomes the first governor in Ohio history to be charged with a crime. Taft could be fined $1,000 and sentenced to six months in jail on each count if convicted. The charges against Taft stem from what some are calling “Coingate:” an investigation into the dealings of Thomas Noe, a coin dealer and prominent Republican campaign contributor Taft appointed to the Ohio Board of Regents and the Ohio Turnpike Commission. Noe served as chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in northwest Ohio. He is under investigation for losing as much as $13 million in rare coin investments in funds he controls for the state.