Lobbyist avoids prison on tax charges

(AP) — A longtime Missouri Republican political consultant and lobbyist was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation for a federal tax crime.

David Barklage was indicted in April for failing to report $443,633 in income from 2012 through 2014. The indictment said that as a result, he failed to pay nearly $152,000 in taxes.

Barklage operates the Barklage Company and his clients have included several prominent Republicans in state government. He was a consultant last year to the Uniting Missouri political action committee, which provided financial backing for Gov. Mike Parsons’s successful election bid.