Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon indicted

[Harold Tuttle]

http://www.wbaltv.com/cnn-news/18445702/detail.html

BALTIMORE –– Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon was indicted Friday on 12 counts of corruption as part of a long-running investigation that saw a councilwoman indicted earlier this week.

The indictment handed down Friday follows a three-year long investigation by the state prosecutor's office into City Hall finances.

In a 28-page report, Dixon was indicted with 12 counts of corruption, including four counts of perjury, two counts of misconduct, three counts of theft and three counts of fraudulent misappropriations. The theft and misappropriations charges stemmed from gift cards that were donated to the city for needy families, 11 News I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller said.

The grand jury focused on gifts the mayor received from developer Ron Lipscomb, as well as the use of those gift cards by Dixon. Dixon did not report any gifts from Lipscomb on her financial disclosure forms.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, Dixon said:

"For the past two years, I have done my best to serve the city of Baltimore as mayor, and I will continue to do so. I will not let these charges deter me from keeping Baltimore on the path that we have set, or from carrying forward the significant progress we have made thus far." To read more of her statement, click here.

Miller reported Friday that one allegation listed in the indictment said that on Dec. 16, 2004, 15 $50 Best Buy gift cards were purchased with cash by the city. Two were used on Dec. 11, 2005, at the Best Buy store downtown by Sheila Dixon to purchase $237 worth of merchandise, including a PlayStation2 and DVDs.

Friday morning, Dixon was attending a state conference on the Eastern Shore. She is expected to return to Baltimore in the afternoon.

Investigators with the state prosecutor's office raided Dixon's house in June in search of evidence, with fur coats and documents among the targets. At that time, subpoenas were issued to five people who worked for Dixon when she was City Council president. They were all told to appear before a grand jury.

"All I can tell you is I've cooperated with the prosecutors. I have no idea what they're looking for," Dixon said the day of the June 17 raid.

Dixon became the city's 48th mayor in January 2007, succeeding Martin O'Malley. She served on the City Council for 12 years.

Councilwoman Helen Holton and Lipscomb were indicted Wednesday on charges of bribery.

According to the indictment, Lipscomb's company paid more than $12,000 for a public opinion poll for Holton as she considered her political future. The committee recommended tax breaks for Lipscomb's company while Holton was chairwoman. Both have said they did nothing illegal.

[Scout26]

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and guess that she's a democrat since the article never mentions her party....Unlike when a Republican gets in trouble and then it's "Republican Mayor/Senator/Congressman/Governor" endlessly repeated....

[digitalandanalog]

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and guess that she's a democrat

I didn't know that Mass. had any GOP

They've swung so far to the left that I actually was starting to think Senator Kennedy owned the place....oh, wait, then there would only be guns guns in the hands of rich politicians (and their guards)...

What are they down to now...about 3 registered, voting Republicans?

J/K...kind of....

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

charm city is md last time i checked

[Monkeyleg]

$237? That's it? The scandals of late, even the Blagojowich scandal, are really small-time.

The best one we had here in WI was in 2002 with Democrat senate majority leader Chuck Chvala. He would routinely bring lobbyists into his office for what he jokingly referred to as "cattle calls." He would tell each one how large a check to write. The checks were written to the Democrat party of Kansas. The Kansas Democrat party would then send the money on to a group in DC that Chvala controlled. Chvala would then use the money to contribute to the campaigns of senators or senate candidates who were loyal to him. It was part of the way that he sustained his considerable power.

Lobbyists were told that they would write a check for $10,000 or $20,000 or more, or their bills would never get a vote.

In the end, Chvala had extorted $1.19 million from lobbyists. He was facing 19 felony charges, including 17 charges of extortion. The FBI was looking at him for interstate money laundering and other federal charges.

He was prosecuted by loyal Democrat Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann. McCann allowed Chvala to plead guilty to the two least serious charges--using a state staffer to do campaign work on state time, and contributing more than the $1000 maximum to the campaign of state senator Mark Meyer.* The court never heard any of the charges or testimony relating to the extortion charges.

Chvala got 9 months of house arrest. He lost his law license for two years, and was prohibited from being a lobbyist for three years.

He did some major crimes, extorted some serious money, and didn't even get a slap on the wrist.

Now, that's a real scandal.


*Senator Mark Meyer represented the area around LaCrosse. When he found out that the Chvala scandal was going to break, he started approaching Governor Doyle for a state appointment. Meyer's district was heavily NRA, and there was a lot of pressure for him to vote for our concealed carry bill. Doyle made Meyer's appointment contingent on him voting against the carry bill, which Meyer did.

Doyle appointed Meyer to chairman of the Public Service Commission, which oversees utilities, amongst other things. In 2006, a state power company wanted some favors from Doyle that would require the approval of the Public Service Commission. The power company gave vast amounts of money to Doyle's campaign, and chairman Mark Meyer helped to make sure the power company got what it wanted.

Gift cards? $12,000 opinion polls? PlayStations? That's amateur stuff.

[longeyes]

Baltimore: third leg of the stool.  After Chicago and Las Vegas.

[Harold Tuttle]

Balmore is run by the Curran family

the previous mayor is now the state governor
Martin O'Malley is married to the daughter of the MD attorney General, Joe "Farewell to Arms" Curran

She is a judge
Other family members are Baltimore city councilors


The 237 dollar gift card mayor is a patsy

Remember Spiro Agnew?

Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the thirty-ninth Vice President of the United States (and the first Greek American to serve in that capacity), serving under President Richard Nixon, and the fifty-fifth Governor of Maryland. He was also the first Greek American governor in United States history.
During his fifth year as Vice President, in the late summer of 1973, Agnew was under investigation by the United States Attorney’s office in Baltimore, Maryland, on charges of extortion, tax fraud, bribery, and conspiracy. In October, he was formally charged with having accepted bribes totaling more than $100,000, while holding office as Baltimore County Executive, governor of Maryland, and Vice President of the United States. On October 10, 1973, Agnew was allowed to plead no contest to a single charge that he had failed to report $29,500 of income received in 1967, with the condition that he resign the office of Vice Presiden

Maryland knows how to do corruption right

[longeyes]

Didn't you forget Pelosi's family?  I forget her maiden name.  Brother and father were both mayors.