Former Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson admitted in federal court Tuesday to accepting a $100,000 check and up to $1 million in gifts for steering millions of public dollars to crooked developers. Johnson, 62, pleaded to two felony charges, extortion and tampering with witnesses and evidence, uncovered as part of a wide-ranging federal investigation into public corruption in Prince George’s County. He faces 11 to 13 years in prison at his sentencing on Sept. 15.
U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein called Johnson’s guilty plea a “milestone” in the six-year probe.
“In America, the government serves the people, not the politicians,” said Rosenstein. He added that honest business owners and citizens “should not lose out to people willing to pay to play.”
After Johnson’s hearing, the court unsealed convictions of two developers and the former head of the county’s housing department who were a part of the conspiracy.
Outside the Greenbelt courthouse, Johnson, who was once the county’s state’s attorney, told a throng of reporters that the ordeal has been a trying time for his family.
“I want to say to all citizens of Prince George’s County that I am sorry for what happened,” he said. “We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the Lord.”
Johnson and his wife, Prince George’s County Councilwoman Leslie Johnson, 59, were arrested in November in an FBI raid during which the then-county executive was overheard by agents listening in on a wiretap telling his wife to flush a $100,000 check from a developer down the toilet. She was found with nearly $80,000 stuffed in her bra and underwear, authorities said. Johnson’s term as the county’s top public official expired in December. His wife would be forced to resign from the council if she is convicted of a felony.
Prosecutors said Jack Johnson’s plea agreement has no affect on his wife’s case. She was not at his hearing.
Three new conspirators were publicly identified Tuesday. Former county housing director James E. Johnson, 66, no relation to Jack Johnson, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to commit extortion.
Dr. Mirza Hussain Baig, 67, a physician and commercial developer, pleaded guilty on April 11 to conspiracy to paying bribes. He is identified as the person who provided the $100,000 check to Johnson.
Patrick Ricker, 52, developer of the Greenbelt Metropark mixed-use project, pleaded guilty in 2009 to giving Johnson bribes to get tax breaks and county government help with the Greenbelt project.
According to his plea agreement, Jack Johnson admitted to taking bribes beginning in 2003, a year after he was first elected county executive. He accepted trips, cash, campaign contributions, rounds of golf, airline tickets, hotel rooms, meals and other things of value.
In exchange, he steered millions of government dollars to favored developers, obtained necessary permits and approvals for projects, found jobs for conspirators, and lobbied county and state lawmakers regarding liquor store issues.
In one of the more than 2,000 conversations FBI agents recorded, Baig, the doctor, used coded language to inform Johnson to cash the $100,000 check: “Hello Jack, I was looking at your medical records, and you can go ahead and fill the prescription whenever you want.”
