Already facing criminal charges, former Roanoke councilman Brian Wishneff must also pay $3,700 in civil penalties for a campaign ad that used a fake name to attack a political rival.

The State Board of Elections recently assessed the fines against Wishneff for five violations of campaign finance laws.

Wishneff was involved in the placing of a newspaper ad that took shots at city council candidate Court Rosen in the closing days of last May’s municipal elections.

The full-page ad, which ran for three days in The Roanoke Times, portrayed Rosen as an inexperienced 29-year-old with no record of community involvement. At the bottom of the ad was a line that read: "Paid for by Joe Smith, Citizens for Sensible Decisions."

But there was no Joe Smith, it turned out, and Citizens for Sensible Decisions was not registered with the state as a political action committee.

Wishneff admitted he made up the name "Joe Smith" when a Roanoke Times sales representative asked who was paying for the ad. Wishneff said at the time that the newspaper told him he could use a fake name.

Although Wishneff did not pay for the ad, he failed to report it as an in-kind contribution to his campaign, board of elections campaign finance manager David Allen wrote in a recent letter to the former councilman. Wishneff lost his bid for re-election last May.

The state also sanctioned Wishneff under a law that required his name to appear on the ad. An ad attacking one candidate must include the name of any other candidate who might benefit from its message, if the candidate who benefited worked with the sponsor of the ad.

Wishneff has said he worked with Citizens for Sensible Decisions on the ad.

The organization also faces potential fines, Allen said.

At the same time if fined Wishneff $3,700, the board of elections also levied $200 in civil penalties against Kim Duncan, the treasurer of his campaign for re-election. Duncan was cited for aiding and abetting in Wishneff’s failure to report an in-kind contribution.

Copies of certified letters to Duncan and Wishneff, informing them of the board of election’s recent fines, were obtained today under the state Freedom of Information Act.

Meanwhile, Wishneff is facing criminal misdemeanor charges in connection with the same ad. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon on his motion to have the charges dismissed.

Calls to Wishneff’s attorney, John Lichtenstein, and to Duncan were not immediately returned today.