Posted on 07/01/2011 1:08:52 PM PDT by jazusamo
A prominent Maryland councilwoman who made international headlines for flushing a bribe down the toilet and stuffing another in her underwear has pleaded guilty to a felony but won’t leave her $96,417-a-year public job.
The unbelievably pompous move has led the area’s largest newspaper to blast the lawmaker, Prince George’s County Councilwoman Leslie Johnson, as a “case study in arrogance.” Every day she serves in public office and every act she commits in her official capacity is a disgrace to the county and her constituents, the editorial says.
In November Johnson and her equally corrupt husband (Jack Johnson) got arrested for operating a large-scale bribery scheme. Jack, a former county executive, recently got convicted of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes from developers as the county’s top elected official. Leslie tried to cover up the bribes by flushing a $100,000 check down the toilet and stuffing nearly $80,000 in her bra when federal agents came snooping.
The Johnsons were well known in the state as an African-American power couple. As Maryland’s largest county with a population of about 835,000 and 27 municipalities, Prince George’s County has the distinction of being the nation’s wealthiest with a black majority of residents. The Johnsons have even appeared on the cover of a major newspaper’s Sunday magazine as the stars of an article touting the county as a hub for educated black professionals.
For years the feds suspected that Jack and other county officials had been taking bribes from real estate developers in exchange for personal and business favors. As FBI agents tried to search the Johnson mansion, Jack ordered his wife to flush a bribe from a developer down the toilet and hide the rest in her underwear.
The feds recorded the incriminating telephone conversation and subsequently found $79,000 in cash stuffed into Leslie Johnson’s bra, according to federal prosecutors. The bribes were paid to Jack Johnson by a developer who needed his help securing federal grants for affordable housing projects, according to the feds.
This week Leslie, who is an attorney and once served as a judge in the District of Columbia, pleaded guilty to destroying evidence, but she refuses to resign from the council despite calls from colleagues and the media to quit. “I look forward to continuing to serve and help the lives of those in need,” Johnson said told the media as she left court.
Leslie could go to jail for more than a year, which of course, means that she will then be forced to relinquish her public office. Her sentencing is scheduled for October. Under Maryland law elected officials convicted of felonies must resign but a conviction evidently isn’t final until sentencing. In the meantime, District 6 will be represented by a handsomely paid felon.
Typical Demonrat, she doesn’t give a fat crap about doing what’s right or what people think of her. She just needs to keep riding that gravy train until she’s fired and dragged out kicking and screaming.
Funny how that works.
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“Howdy was white”
You mean white, as in birch or pine?
actually it’s her husband Jack Johnson who is the arrogant AND stupid SOB, she’s just an idiot. I used to work a few doors down from him when he was the County DA and even back then it was common knowledge that he was about as honest as a $3 bill.
What blows my mind is his stupidity. He was arrested by the FBI, and the took hiss cell phone away. A few hours later they released him and returned his phone. The first thing he did was use it to make a panicked call to his wife telling her which bribe checks she should immediately hide/and or destroy.
Now as a layman, wouldn’t you assume that if the FBI takes your phone away and tells you you are under investigation, that they have tapped your phone, if they return it?
And this guy was the country’s former top prosecutor, so he HAD to know that’s how the cops roll
I don’t know, Sheila Lee is kind of stupid as a box of hammers. She’d probably change her vote for popcorn, which is corruption.
Q) How do you know she'd a democrat?
A) Since the article made zero mention of party affiliation, it's obviously a democrat.
Agreed. That was funny about the phone deal, they recorded every word of it and when they arrested his wife they knew where the money was. LOL!
Am I a racist for thinking that? I feel like a racist because I read one line of an article on FR and just assume, this has to be one of Holder's black people.
Hmmm... OK, let's see how racist I am.
Nope, not racist, just wise. She is one of Holders' people.
or get a credit card on the foreign bank and pay the bill from the foreign bank account
Why doesn’t the governor remove her from office? Being in the same party is not an excuse.
“The Johnsons were well known in the state as an African-American power couple.”
One would like to lay claim to ESP, but...
Holder’s people BUMP.
Suprised she didn’t say it was just padding strictly for appearance and not a bribe!
Added a couple words to your sentence to help clarify why he'd do something so dumb. Like our President, you spend a lifetime having your C's in school turned into B's and A's, this is the kind of critical thinking skills you end up with.
Just a guess, but maybe the Democrat governor Martin O'Malley (called "Martin O'Money" behind his back) doesn't see a problem with it.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
or get a credit card on the foreign bank and pay the bill from the foreign bank account>>>>>>>>>>
Would she use that credit card inside America or outside America or both?
or get a credit card on the foreign bank and pay the bill from the foreign bank account>>>>>>>>>>
Would she use that credit card inside America or outside America or both?
both
You buy stuff on the foreign card that gets paid automatically by the instruction you gave the bank to auto pay the total every month.
The monthly statement is delivered to your foreign mail box and the initial instruction to the bank are the only trails
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