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According to the November 24, 2010, Austin American-Statesman story headlined DeLay convicted of laundering corporate money into political donations, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Tom DeLay (R-Texas) has been convicted of money laundering. He will be sentenced on December 20 and could receive a prison sentence in excess of five years. This article contains a good trial timeline of the violations going back to 2001. (more…)

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Today’s Washington Post article about the ongoing federal public corruption probe in Prince George’s County, Maryland, shows exactly how that local government has been corrupted by political patronage.  The article is headlined Arrests in Pr. George’s probe expose ties between politicians, liquor officials.  It is a detailed account of how political patronage is connected with public corruption in local government.   (more…)

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This article in today’s Gazette.Net – Maryland Community News Online has a rather vanilla title:  Widespread Investigation Unfolds in County.    It starts with a by now familiar update of the continually expanding federal investigation into public corruption in Prince George’s County, Maryland.  It talks about the County Executive Jack Johnson and his County Councilwoman-elect wife Leslie who allegedly accepted bribes from developers to help secure federal HUD money for their projects.  It talks about the corrupt police officers being paid to protect black market activities.

But then the article touches on something many people who tolerate, support, and participate in public corruption often overlook:  There are consequences beyond disgrace and prison.  (more…)

The corruption case against Prince George’s County (Maryland) Executive Jack Johnson and his wife took another interesting turn just hours ago.  Nine more people, including three Prince George’s County police officers have been arrested by federal authorities.  According to the Washington Post online article [updated article linked 11-16-2010], these arrests are in connection with the federal corruption cases against the Johnsons, Jack and Leslie.   That connection alleged in the Post article is not confirmed in the press release from the Office of the US Attorney for the District of Maryland.

In Maryland, police functions at the county level are usually performed by a police agency separate from the county sheriff’s office which has custodial and civil duties.  The PG County Police Department is completely separate from the PG County Office of the Sheriff.

Addendum on 11-17-2010:  The Wednesday, November 17  Washington Post story strongly suggests the official corruption in Prince George’s County goes beyond the County Executive Jack Johnson, his County Councilman-elect wife, and the PG County Police.

In July and August this year OpenCdA put up several posts about the municipal corruption in cities of Bell and Vernon, California.  These posts had to do with municipal officials lining their pockets with exorbitant salaries and benefits at the expense of unwitting, low- and medium-income city taxpayers.

Now an alert OpenCdA reader has provided information that Mayor John (Juan) R. Noguez of Huntington Park, California, may have tried to interfere with the city police department’s investigations of major donors to Noguez’s campaign. The October 31, 2010, The Washington Times article written by reporter Jeffrey Anderson, is headlined Signs of municipal corruption spread in L.A. suburbs.  If accurate, the story explains how public officials use law enforcement and police unions for political purposes.

Yesterday’s OpenCdA.com post about the arrest of Prince George’s County (Maryland) Executive Jack Johnson explains the allegations leading to his and his wife’s arrests by the FBI on charges relating to public corruption.

Today’s Washington Post story titled Jack Johnson’s arrest shows development as a blessing and a curse provides insight into how public officials’ conduct evolves into misconduct when big money is at stake.

In our own area, we need to be watchful not only of our elected officials’ conduct but the conduct of “unpaid volunteers” appointed by those officials to commissions and committees.  They are often in positions to make official recommendations which financially benefit themselves or the elected officials who appointed them.

Both the Washington Post and the Washington Times are reporting that Prince George’s County (Maryland) Executive Jack Johnson (shown left) and his wife, herself a Prince George’s County councilman-elect, were arrested on corruption charges by the Federal Bureau of Investigation today.

From the November 12, 2010, press release issued by the US Attorney for the District of Maryland:

“According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, the FBI initiated an investigation into allegations that certain real estate developers in Prince George’s County, Maryland were bribing public officials in exchange for official acts favorable to the developers and their companies. The affidavit alleges that this and a related investigation led to a series of wiretap orders from September 2009 to the present.

The Prince George’s County Department of Housing and Community Development (“DHCD”) administered the HOME Investment Partnerships program, which provides federal grants to states and localities to fund the construction, purchase and/or rehabilitation of affordable housing for rent or home-ownership. According to the complaint, the Director of DHCD has the authority to recommend which developers should receive HOME funds for development projects in the County. A developer with projects in Prince George’s County sought and obtained HOME funds from the County for the developer’s projects. The complaint alleges that Jack Johnson received cash and checks, including a $100,000 check, from the developer in return for Johnson’s help, in his official capacity as County Executive, in securing HOME funds for the developer’s projects.”  (more…)

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Remember the recent outcry in Bell, California, after the city’s residents learned how the mayor and council were abusing their authority and lining their own pockets with taxpayers’ money?    According to an article in today’s Los Angeles Times, the citizens of Bell now understand that they can retake control of their city government.   Sadly, many of the desirable attributes in Bell, in Los Angeles County, and the State of California are lacking in Coeur d’Alene, in Kootenai County, and the State of Idaho.

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“If I was a drug dealer and I didn’t want to be interfered with, I’d move to a city where I could exploit dysfunctional city governments, corrupt the police or be left alone in a neighborhood where people are not as active in monitoring their communities. That’s where I’d want my dope house.”

Those were the words of Los Angeles County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Cooley, a candidate for election as California’s Attorney General.   This comment and others appeared on August 13, 2010 in The Washington Times article headlined L.A. area is prime ground for gangs.  Cooley’s interview was a warning to all communities to not ignore the conditions that enable criminal gangs to thrive.  Take heed, Coeur d’Alene.

The scandal that has erupted in the Los Angeles suburb of Bell, California, (population 38,000) is an example of how predatory, self-serving city officials will loot a city treasury if the townspeople trust them too much and don’t pay attention to what the folks at city hall are doing.

On Thursday night, the city’s Chief Administrative Officer (salary $800K), Police Chief (salary $457K), and Assistant City Manager (salary $376K) resigned after a contentious public meeting in front of irate townspeople.  Not surprisingly, the Mayor and City Council initially defended approving the outrageously high salaries, to which the townspeople responded, “Recall them, too!”  (more…)