PROVIDENCE, R.I. � The National Rifle Association has agreed to pay a $63,000 fine to Rhode Island after acknowledging that a now-defunct local political action committee violated the state�s campaign finance law.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. � The National Rifle Association has agreed to pay a $63,000 fine to Rhode Island after acknowledging that a now-defunct local political action committee had violated the state�s campaign finance law.

Richard E. Thornton, the state Board of Elections� director of campaign finance, said the settlement, which was approved by the board in a closed-door session Thursday and announced publicly afterward, is the state�s second highest.

U.S. Rep. James Langevin was assessed the state�s biggest-ever campaign-finance settlement in 2011: a $127,000 penalty that he has since paid off, Thornton said.

The NRA settlement, which must be paid in full in 30 days, comes in response to a complaint filed in September by the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats.

The Progressive Democrats said the NRA had failed to disclose donors to the �NRA Political Victory Fund PAC,� its state-based political action committee, going back at least to 2002, when the state began posting the campaign finance filings online.

The group suggested that the local PAC�s money � more than $160,000 donated to politicians and candidates in Rhode Island since 2002 � derived from the NRA�s national PAC.

�Not only is it illegal for national PACs to donate to a Rhode Island PAC (or candidate), but it is also illegal for any PAC to donate more than $1,000 per annum to any other PAC,� Sam Bell, state coordinator for the Progressive Democrats, said at the time. �The NRA, we believe, violates both laws.� The following month, the NRA dissolved the 24-year-old PAC.

In a September letter to the elections board, the NRA maintained that the PAC was not required to disclose its donors because none of its contributions had ever reached the state�s $100 threshold to report donor information.

The organization also provided a sworn affidavit by the PAC�s assistant treasurer stating that none of the donors gave more than the state�s maximum annual donation limit of $1,000.

Ultimately, the settlement acknowledged that the NRA�s local PAC was in violation of state law because it had failed to create a separate bank account to administer funds it received from the NRA�s federal PAC.

�In order for these reports to have complied with the Rhode Island General Laws, the NRA RI PAC should have received individual contributions [�] and deposited into its own separate bank account, and made disbursements from this account.�

NRA lobbyist Darin Goens did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

The NRA and other pro-gun groups strongly opposed gun-control measures that Democratic leaders of the General Assembly introduced last year in response to the Newtown, Conn., school massacre.

None of the most controversial bills, including a proposal to ban assault-style weapons in Rhode Island, cleared the legislature.

House Speaker Gordon D. Fox, a Providence Democrat who favors a ban on assault-style weapons, has received about $2,700 from the NRA since 2002, according to campaign finance records. Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, has received about $5,700.

In other matters, the Board of Elections referred to the state attorney general�s office campaign finance-related cases dealing with state Rep. Joseph Almeida, D-Providence, and Providence City Councilman Kevin Jackson.

In Almeida�s case, the board�s staff reviewed financial documents from July 1, 2008, to Dec. 31, 2012.

Among its findings: Almeida�s campaign had failed to report some $8,195 in donations and $9,729 in expenses and issued $3,908 in checks payable to �cash� or Almeida himself with no explanation for the spending.

The board forwarded the case to the attorney general after two unsuccessful tries at requesting settlement discussions with Almeida.

In Jackson�s case, Thornton said he found that groups were donating to the councilman�s campaign even though his filings never showed any fundraising activity.

Thornton said a review of campaign finance filings from other political organizations shows that Jackson should have received at least $4,905 in donations that were never reflected in his filings.

Thornton said the board�s staff requested bank records and other financial documents to conduct a review. But Jackson, who was previously ordered by a Superior Court judge to pay the board $23,150 in a case dealing with other campaign finance violations, has not responded.

Finally, the elections board approved a campaign finance-related settlement with state Sen. Harold Metts, D-Providence.

According to the settlement, Metts acknowledges that his campaign failed to report $14,000 in donations and $12,000 in expenses from 2006-2013.

He has since appointed a new campaign treasurer and amended all previously filed reports. Metts also agrees to pay $250 out of his own pocket, forfeit $1,175 from his campaign account and submit additional financial documents through 2014, or else face an additional $750 fine, according to Thornton.