For the second time in as many days, a former high-ranking Prince George’s County official is in legal trouble because of a scandal over contracts.
A former deputy director of the Prince George’s County Department of Central Services was convicted by a Circuit Court jury Wednesday on two charges connected to a scheme to collect $250,000 in bribes from a company that wanted a county contract.
Jurors in the Upper Marlboro court convicted 63-year-old Robert L. Thomas of one charge each of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. The jury acquitted Thomas of a third charge for conspiracy to commit theft. He could spend up to 24 years in jail and pay a $10,000 fine. He will be sentenced Oct. 2.
William C. Brennan, Thomas’ defense lawyer, did not answer a message Thursday.
Thomas worked for Prince George’s from December 2003 to April 2005. State prosecutors said between Sept. 29, 2004, and Feb. 11, 2005, Thomas plotted to take $250,000 in bribes from Interior Systems, a security company. In September, the county’s former deputy director of the Department of Environmental Resources pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. Robert Isom will be sentenced next month for his guilty plea. A third man, Paul L. Wright, was acquitted by a jury in July.
Thomas’ conviction came the day after a 16-count federal indictment against Andre Hornsby, the county’s former schools CEO, for contract fraud and tampering. Federal prosecutors said Hornsby received at least $11,000 in kickback money for giving technology contracts to his live-in lover and one of Hornsby’s former business acquaintances.
McDonough said corruption investigations at both the state and federal level should send a simple message to would-be white-collar criminals.
“You’re not going to get away with it,” McDonough said. “I don’t know what more I can say than that.”
