Just hours ago we wondered whether Ohio's Republican Governor Bob Taft -- great great grandson of Secretary of War Alphonso Taft, great grandson of President William Howard Taft, grandson of Senate Majority Leader Robert Taft, and son of Senator Robert Taft, Jr. -- would be charged criminally today. Well, the AP's Andrew Welsch-Huggins reports that Taft will indeed be charged.

Gov. Bob Taft, who pushed for high ethical standards in his office, will face four criminal misdemeanor charges for not reporting golf outings and other events paid for by others, deepening a scandal that has rocked Ohio's Republican Party.

Taft, a member of a distinguished U.S. political family, would be the first governor in Ohio history to be charged with a crime. If convicted, he could be fined $1,000 and sentenced to six months in jail on each count, though time behind bars was considered unlikely.

Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said the charges relate to annual financial disclosure statements Taft filed from 2002 to 2005. Prosecutors said they had met with Taft's lawyer and expected the governor to appear in court Thursday.

Taft will respond publicly on Thursday and is not planning to resign, spokesman Mark Rickel said.

Cue the Dragnet theme (dum, duh, dum dum...).