If you’re an old timey politico observer, like I am, this morning’s announcement that U.S. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan has been hospitalized for a “stress-related illness” carried a bit of a Colorado connection.

MSNBC reported that Conyers, a Democrat under fire for sexual harassment allegations, was in the hospital. That news was delivered by Sam Riddle, who was described as a political consultant to Conyers’ wife.

That name should ring a bell if you’ve been around a while. Riddle was a longtime political consultant in Colorado, most notably as the spokesman for the late Secretary of State Vicki Buckley, the first and, so far, only African-American to be elected to that post. Buckley, a Republican, died in 1999 of a heart attack at the age of 51 before completing her term.

Riddle, once called the “$250-an-hour man,” was a colorful character in his days as Buckley’s spokesperson; he was once arrested for disobeying a lawful order and “mouthing off to police officers.” His reputation hasn’t changed for the better since leaving Colorado to work for Monica Conyers, who once served on Detroit’s city council.

According to one report from 2009, Buckley’s sister, Pat Duncan, a former photographer for The Colorado Statesman and author, called Riddle an “ass-. That’s his demeanor. … He talks to you crazy.”

According to an FBI press release in 2010, Riddle was sentenced to 37 months in jail, “for his role in conspiring to bribe Southfield City Councilman William Lattimore in connection with the Southfield City Council’s approval of the relocation of a pawn shop and other related offenses.”