Boston (AP) -- A friend of House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has registered as a lobbyist after causing a flap by helping ticket brokers push a bill through the House that lifts restrictions on their business.
A spokesman for Secretary of State William Galvin says Richard Vitale filed papers with Galvin's office today to register as a lobbyist for 2008.
Vitale gave DiMasi a 250,000 dollar loan secured by a mortgage on DiMasi's North End condominium.
Galvin had warned Vitale to register as a lobbyist or face possible penalties.
Vitale has said through a spokesman that he was a strategist, not a lobbyist, for the ticket brokers.
He was not registered as a lobbyist in 2007, when the House approved a bill deregulating the ticket resale industry.
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