HARRISBURG — As other prominent Democrats scramble to distance themselves from a fundraiser wanted in California for failing to appear for sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said Thursday he plans to keep the nearly $40,000 he received.

Rendell, who was re-elected last year and is barred from seeking a third term, received $37,866 from Norman Hsu in 2005 and 2006, according to state campaign finance records. Pennsylvania does not impose limits on campaign contributions.

Describing Hsu as a friend, Rendell said he "never asked for a bloody thing — not a job, not a contract," in exchange for his generosity.

Rendell said he would return the money if California prosecutors win a "sustainable conviction" in the case, but that he finds it strange that Hsu held political fundraisers and maintained a high profile during the 16 years that authorities supposedly have been looking for him.

"We need to find out a whole lot more than we know right now," he said.

Hsu, a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, has donated $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates since 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records, which do not include contributions to gubernatorial candidates.

Sen. Clinton has said she plans to give to charity the $23,000 in donations she received from Hsu. Massachusetts Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry and California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein are among the other high-profile Democrats who have said they plan to divest Hsu's contributions in light of the legal problems that have come to light in recent days.