WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) – A former District of
Columbia city councilmember pleaded guilty on Monday to a
federal bribery charge in the latest financial scandal involving
local officials in the U.S. capital.
Michael Brown, the son of late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown,
was charged on Friday with taking $55,000 from businessmen
while in office in exchange for helping them get a government
contracting certification. The businessmen were undercover
agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Guilty, your honor,” Brown, 48, said when U.S. District
Judge Robert Wilkins asked him how he pleaded.
Under the plea accord, Brown, a Democrat who lost his seat
in the November 2012 election, faces up to 37 months in prison
and forfeiture of $35,000. Wilkins set sentencing for Oct. 3.
The charge is the third prosecution of a District of
Columbia councilmember in little more than a year. Former
Chairman Kwame Brown pleaded guilty in November 2012 to a felony
bank fraud, and Harry Thomas Jr. admitted in May 2012 to
stealing $353,000 from city-funded youth programs.
As part of an ongoing federal probe, two workers in Mayor
Vincent Gray’s 2010 election campaign also pleaded guilty last
year to paying a minor mayoral candidate to disparage incumbent
Adrian Fenty in the Democratic primary.
A former Gray consultant pleaded guilty in 2012 to helping
hide about $650,000 in undisclosed campaign funds from a city
contractor.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia
Osterman)
