Beware: Putin is Pepper's pal

If you honk off David Pepper after he becomes a Hamilton County Commissioner next year, be careful.

After graduating from college, Pepper worked for a thinktank that sent him to St. Petersburg, Russia, to help help American and Russian businesses spur the local economy.

While there, Pepper befriended the St. Petersburg vice mayor -- former Russian KGB head and current Russian President Vladimir Putin who is coming under scrutiny after a former KGB spy and Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko mysteriously and suddenly died last week from radiation poisoning.

Litvinenko, on his death bed, blamed the Kremlin for his death, a claim Putin denies.

Pepper joked today his ties with Putin should help him as a commissioner.

"Now, I'll call him to protect me," Pepper said.

"He'll remember me fondly."