Scott Shires' name is everywhere in the secretary of state's campaign finance reports.

The Aurora Republican in 2006 was the "registered agent" for 80 clients, including Bob Schaffer's state Board of Education race. The 55-year-old West Point graduate's business was responsible for filing campaign finance reports with the secretary of state or IRS as needed.

Shires also worked off and on for a colorful character named William Orr, owner of Octane International, a Colorado company that won a $3.6 million federal grant to study alternative fuels.

It was Shires in 2004 who recruited Schaffer to serve on the board of directors for a nonprofit foundation Orr created to handle the grant. It's a move Shires now regrets.

"If you like someone, you hope not to embarrass them in any manner," he said.

By joining the board, Schaffer's name forever became linked with that of Orr, who later was accused by the U.S. attorney of misleading investors and falsifying documents to obtain the grant.

The same week that a federal jury found Orr guilty on fraud and other counts, the Colorado Republican Party nominated Schaffer for the U.S. Senate.

Attorneys said Schaffer has no connection to the trial. Schaffer said "it's a stretch" for Democrats to try to link him.

But liberal blogs and Democratic supporters of Schaffer's Senate opponent, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, believe otherwise.

"Lingering questions from Schaffer-linked fraud cause" read the headline on Colorado

Pols.com on June 7.

Udall's campaign spokeswoman, Taylor West, questioned what Schaffer actually did for National Alternative Fuels Foundation when he served on the board.

"Bob Schaffer just doesn't get to sit on the board and reap the benefits of saying he was involved in alternative fuels," West said. "At what point does he show some responsibility, fulfill his fiduciary duties?"

Shires said a number of blog postings from "overactive Democratic attackers" are wrong, particularly speculation that Schaffer was the congressman who obtained the questionable grant for Orr.

Schaffer's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, shared Shires' frustration.

"These stupid blogs can make things up," Wadhams said. "This is the latest character assassination attempt by Udall and his leftist allies."

As part of a plea agreement, Shires testified at Orr's trial and pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges of failing to file corporate tax returns on behalf of Octane International.

Shires faces up to a year in prison and a $75 fine when he is sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Denver.

Shires volunteered to work on Schaffer's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign but said the hubhub over the trial and his conviction has caused him to stay away this year.

Shires worked for Orr as Octane's bookkeeper, chief of staff, secretary, treasurer and more.

Orr's attorney, Paul Grant, described his client as an "eccentric inventor" and a "very creative guy." He declined to allow Orr, who is scheduled to be sentenced this fall, to be interviewed.

Orr was found guilty May 28 of 23 criminal counts, including wire fraud, mail fraud, making false statements and failure to file tax returns.

In the 1990s, Orr developed a new class of alternative fuels he said could reduce pollution caused by traditional fossil fuels and could reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, according to court records.

Congress in 2000 awarded Orr the $3.6 million to research the fuel. The money, to come from the Environmental Protection Agency, was in the form of an earmark in an appropriations bill. Earmarks have become controversial in recent years because they are viewed as ways for politicians to slip in money for pet projects.

Schaffer, who served in Congress from 1997 to 2003, said he does not believe he met Orr before 2004.

"I did not advocate his earmark. In fact, I was unaware of his earmark," Schaffer said, adding he voted against the bill that contained the earmark.

Shires said Orr told him the earmark was inserted into the bill by a key House committee staffer at the direction of a non-Colorado congressman, and that a "very expensive bottle of whiskey" changed hands.

In trial testimony, EPA administrator Margo Oge said the earmark was unusual, in part because Orr hadn't yet set up the foundation needed to accept the grant. The EPA had to help him do that after he was awarded the money.

Schaffer said he was invited to serve on the board of directors in October 2004. The board officially voted on his membership in November, and he began his duties Dec. 1, 2004. Schaffer said he toured the research facility, talked to scientists and read reports.

The next month, the EPA froze Orr's grant.

Schaffer said Orr claimed the EPA did so because the research he was undertaking would disprove the agency's policy on fuel additives. Schaffer said the board discussed the situation, although he doesn't remember the details.

Schaffer said he was not aware that Orr was under investigation until a Department of Justice investigator interviewed him in February. Schaffer resigned from the board the next month, March 2005.

"The subsequent decisions that the board was involved in were all about Bill Orr and his activities and that was not a distraction I cared to spend a lot of time on," he said. Schaffer estimated he was paid $1,500 for his service on the board.

Orr's attorney put Schaffer's name on his witness list but decided not to call him to testify.

"I was hoping that he knew Mr. Orr well enough to say some positive things, but I realized he didn't," Grant said.

bartels@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5327

Businessman to be sentenced in fraud case

Scott Shires, a key witness in a federal fraud trial, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday for failing to file corporate income tax returns.

Age: 55

City: Aurora

Background: Retired lieutenant colonel, West Point graduate

Political history: Unsuccessfully ran for the state House in 2000; created the Senate Majority Fund, a political 527 committee, to help Republicans get elected to the Senate in 2004

Occupation: Owner of the Compliance Center, a business that handles campaign reports for various candidates, issue committees and political committees that must be filed with the secretary or state and or the IRS. Also owns Shires Financial Group, which handles tax returns, accounting and more.

Previously: Worked for William Orr, president of Octane International, who was convicted in May of fraud and other charges