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The Washington Times newspaper is reporting today that former Prince George’s County (Maryland) Executive Jack Johnson has decided to plead guilty to two felony public corruption charges. Today’s story was headlined Johnson pleads guilty to public corruption charges.
Johnson, a former Prince George’s County Prosecuting Attorney, had solicited bribes in what federal officials characterized as a “pay to play” scheme.
Back in November 2010, OpenCdA.com put up a series of posts outlining the scheme which resulted in Johnson’s accepting bribes from developers for favorable consideration of their projects. Here are links to those earlier posts which amount to a how-to-do-it tutorial for wannabe corrupt public officials.
There May Be Hope Yet…
The Evolution of Corruption
Corruption + Cops
Corruption Has Consequences
Public Corruption and Political Patronage
This paragraph from today’s Washington Times article sums up how predatory corrupt public officials like Johnson are able to succeed for so long:
Throughout his time as county executive, Johnson remained popular among residents. The story of his rise from a poor and rural part of South Carolina to leader of the affluent majority-black county seemed to resonate with voters, whom he often networked with at Sunday church services.