Public corruption investigations and prosecutions are interesting.  They often reveal that the corrupt public officials were able to steal from their friends and neighbors so easily because those same friends and neighbors thought the crooks were pillars of the community and above reproach.

Here is the Internal Revenue Service’s summary of the case against Prince George’s County, Maryland, developer Karl Granzow, Jr.   Reading the summary is about as interesting as watching cement dry.  Just another crooked Maryland developer, right?

Not quite.  Here’s a little more about Karl Granzow, Jr.  (more…)

An October 22, 2012, Atlanta Journal Constitution article headlined Atlanta region sees spike in public corruption cases concluded that the Atlanta area has not seen an increase in public corruption.   Rather,  AJC writers Bill Rankin and David Wickert observed,  Atlanta has seen an increased focus by federal authorities on investigating and prosecuting public corruption cases.

The AJC article was predicated on a State Integrity Investigation report, the result of the State Accountability Project undertaken in 2011 as a joint project by the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity, and Public Radio International.   When the project ranked the states, Georgia ranked 50th, last among the states in public integrity.  Idaho was 41st out of 50.

Idaho received a D-minus in its commitment to public integrity by public officials.  (more…)

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack

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In  our July 19th post titled Another Mayor Under Federal Investigation, we reported that Trenton, NJ, Mayor Tony Mack had been served with a nighttime search warrant and was under investigation by the FBI for corruption.

Today NJ.Com reported that “Mayor Tony Mack was arrested this morning at his home by FBI agents on corruption charges linked to $119,000 in bribes for a parking garage project in the city, authorities said. ”  The news story was headlined Trenton Mayor Tony Mack is arrested by FBI on corruption charge.  Here is a link to the FBI complaint supporting Mack’s arrest today.

Trenton has a population of approximately 85,000 and is the capital of New Jersey.  (more…)

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack

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Trenton, NJ, Mayor Tony Mack is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

According to a NJ.com article headlined “FBI probe of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack includes searches of houses of his brother, campaign supporter”,the FBI executed a nighttime search warrant on Mack’s home beginning at about 1 a.m. on Wednesday, July 17.   Most search warrants are daytime search warrants (typically “daytime” means between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.), however nighttime search warrants can be specially authorized if the issuing judge deems it necessary for the safety of law enforcement and the people involved or if there is a reasonable belief that evidence sought may be destroyed if the search were limited to daytime. (more…)

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Do you have an unwavering trust in judges and prosecutors?  Do you think they can’t be bought?

Read this.

Think again.

Pam Davis is credited with being the honest executive who stepped up and refused to accept the corruption of Illinois Governor Rod Blogojevich.  Davis is the CEO of Edward Hospital in Naperville, Illinois.  The story of her personal involvement in the FBI’s corruption investigation which resulted in Blogojevich going to federal prison for 14 years is worth reading.  It is an inspiring profile of a courageous woman.

Here is her interview in the October 2009 Fraud Magazine and the newspaper story in the March 14, 2012, Daily Herald online.

Her courage and conviction was best summarized in these lines from the Daily Herald online article:  “Davis is sympathetic to Blagojevich’s family but unyielding in her conviction she did the right thing, even though it cost her a hospital in Plainfield.  ‘I hold him personally responsible for dragging us through the sludge of his corruption,’ Davis said in an interview.”

She got it right.  Plainfield didn’t get a hospital, because she wouldn’t pay to play.  I wonder how many people in Idaho, Kootenai County, and Coeur d’Alene would get it right the way Pam Davis did?

Jimmy Dimora (Photo credit The Plain Dealer)

Cleveland’s newspaper, The Plain Dealer, is reporting that former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora has been convicted in federal court of racketeering and other charges.  In its article headlined Jimmy Dimora convicted of racketeering, 32 other corruption-related charges, The Plain Dealer writer James McCarty gives readers the bare-bones outline about how an elected official sold county jobs and contracts in return for money, gifts, and prostitutes.  The article also hints at the methods and patience of federal investigators and prosecutors in assembling a case against a corrupt public official.  A 2008 article in The Plain Dealer headlined Cleveland, Cuyahoga corruption part of national trend adds to the understanding that public corruption can happen anywhere.

Of course, it could never happen here.  Not in Idaho.  Not in Kootenai County.  Not in Coeur d’Alene.

Thanks to OpenCdA commenter Justinian for the heads-up that former Prince George’s County, Maryland, county executive Jack Johnson has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for his part in an extensive public corruption scheme.

The Washington Times reports that U.S. District Court Judge Peter J. Messitte summarized the severity of Johnson’s corruption thus:  “This was not a single act of bribery.  This was not a simple wrong turn. This was a deliberate march down a long path of kleptocracy.”

At his sentencing hearing, Johnson pleaded for mercy, citing a recent diagnosis of some form of Parkinsonism.

Johnson also cited a litany of the “good works” he had performed as the county’s prosecutor and county executive.   In response to this particular justification for mercy, Judge Messitte’s reply was right on the money:  “”If you’ve done them, good for you.  That’s what you were elected to do. You were not elected to line your pockets, you were not elected to corrupt the system the way you did.”

Judge Messitte’s response was concise and to the point.  It needs to be digested by public officials throughout the United States.  Working for your constituents, all of them and not just a select few, is what you were elected to do.  You were not elected to line your pockets, and you were not elected to corrupt the system for your own personal profit.

So long, Jack.