Former Governor John Kitzhaber has agreed to cough up a $20,000 fine for committing 10 Oregon ethics violations while at the state's helm. At a hearing before the Government Ethics Commission today, Kitzhaber didn't parse words. "I erred, and I assume full responsibility for it," he told the panel, according to the Statesman Journal.

Kitzhaber's referring to his fourth term as governor, where the private energy business dealings of his fiancee Cylvia Hayes became a little too blended with her public role as Kitzhaber's energy advisor and the state's first lady. Only after he became fully entangled in his office's ethical missteps did Kitzhaber resign, allowing our current Gov. Kate Brown to rise to the throne in 2015.

The settlement agreement comes after months of back-and-forth between the ethics commission and Kitzhaber's team, which originally offered the state a paltry $1,000 in fines. Only after tacking on a total of 10 ethics violations, like breaking the state's conflict-of-interest law and accepting gifts over $50 as a public official, did the commission spit out a $20,000 bill. The agreed-upon payout still falls well below the maximum fine of $50,000 for such violations.

While it may seem like the final chapter in this exhausting ethical tale, it's not. The ethics commission is still waiting to hear how Hayes will respond to having a whopping 22 ethics violations filed against her in January. The options on the table: either Hayes will agree to a fine up to $110,000 (and perhaps, the hundreds of thousands in contracts she won while working through the governor's office) or she'll contest the claim, bumping her case into a courtroom. Hayes and her lawyers have remained zip-lipped throughout the entire process—but we're expecting some pushback. Stay tuned.