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Every married couple needs a hobby, something they can do together. Jack and Leslie Johnson’s was public corruption — soliciting and taking bribes from their constituents in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Now it looks as if they will both be headed for federal prison.
On May 18, 2011, OpenCdA’s post titled Corrupt Official Pleads Guilty reported that former Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson had pleaded guilty to federal charges of soliciting bribes in a pay-to-play scheme he ran. The post linked to several earlier posts which detailed the scheme.
Today’s Washington Times is reporting that yesterday, June 30, Jack Johnson’s wife, Leslie Johnson, herself a member of the Prince George’s County Council, pleaded guilty to two federal conspiracy counts for her part in the pay-to-play scheme she and her husband ran. The Times article is headlined Leslie Johnson pleads to 2 conspiracy counts. The article quoted Leslie Johnson’s statement to the federal court as saying, ““I made a mistake for which I today accepted responsibility for my conduct. I look forward to continuing to serve and making a positive difference to the lives of people in need.”
Maybe I’m being unreasonable, but I have trouble squaring that last sentence with the image of her following her husband’s instructions and stuffing bribe money in her bra.
Such a fine upstanding couple. They’d probably fit right in with the politicos in Cd’A city hall.
Comment by Ancientemplar — July 1, 2011 @ 8:23 am
It happens because the public allows it to happen. As long as the public tolerates and even venerates dishonest public officials because their dishonest behavior is perceived to be less damaging than the good they seem to provide, people like the Johnsons will endure.
Comment by Bill — July 1, 2011 @ 8:58 am
Unbelievable! She flushed a $100,000 check down the toilet and stuffed almost $80,000 cash into her bra? Either those were large denomination bills or she looked like Pamela Anderson as she greeted the police. (Just a thought, if she’s stuffing so much money into her bra, why not include the $100,000 check too, after all it’s just one more piece of paper?)
Comment by mary — July 1, 2011 @ 9:09 am
Mary,
A check does not have the anonymity and deniability of cash. A negotiated check is a trove of investigative information.
Comment by Bill — July 1, 2011 @ 9:14 am
That makes sense. But she thought she could deny any problems with a bra full of cash?
Comment by mary — July 1, 2011 @ 11:06 am
Mary,
It’s suspicious but not necessarily illegal to have a bra full of cash, especially in one’s own home. The surrounding circumstances may lead a reasonable person to believe the cash is or may be fruits of a crime, however. And if the authorities are serving a search warrant that authorizes them to seize cash, then it gets seized.
As to what she thought, corrupt public officials caught in incriminating situations or with incriminating evidence don’t always think clearly.
Comment by Bill — July 1, 2011 @ 12:01 pm
This story reminded me of Bra check upsets court visitor right here in the old federal building in Coeur d’Alene, ID.
Well, Idaho would not tolerate such a thing – if they suspected any type of crime they would walk her thru a metal dector and if it detected “underwire” she would be subjected to a search and stripped of her support system, thus all of the hidden cash would fall to the ground and then officials would scurry to retrieve it all and let her pass. 🙂
Comment by Stebbijo — July 1, 2011 @ 4:10 pm