Posted on 11/12/2010 4:01:03 PM PST by jazusamo
Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson and his wife were arrested at their home Friday and charged in federal court with trying to hide or destroy the proceeds from a bribe from a local developer, according to court papers and federal law enforcement authorities.
Johnson and his wife, Leslie E. Johnson, were charged with evidence tampering and destruction, alteration and falsification of records. After brief hearings late Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Connolly ordered Jack Johnson to be released and placed under electronic monitoring. The judge released Leslie Johnson on her own recognizance. Both Johnsons were ordered to surrender their passports.
The charges stem from a frantic phone call on Friday in which Leslie Johnson told her husband that "two women were at the door" and ultimately ended when federal agents found $76,000 in Leslie Johnson's underwear, according to an affidavit in support of the criminal charges.
The pair were taken away in handcuffs separately shortly before 1 p.m. Johnson, wearing a camel-colored suit and white shirt, did not address reporters' questions. The Johnsons made their initial court appearances late Friday and did not enter a plea. A hearing was scheduled for next month.
In an unusually detailed account of the sting by federal agents filed in federal court Friday, the agents allege that beginning as early as 2007, Jack Johnson began receiving money from an unidentified developer to secure federal housing funds for the developer's projects in the county. Those payments allegedly included a $100,000 check, according to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint.
The allegations are based on wiretaps, cooperating sources and other information, according to the document.
On or about Nov. 5, 2010, the same developer allegedly gave Jack Johnson $5,000 in cash for "using his official influence and authority for the benefit of"...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
ComPost take on the charges...
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
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