Former state senator Thomas Bromwell pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to charges of racketeering and filing a false tax return.
Bromwell, 58, is expected to face six to eight years in prison when U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentences him on Nov. 16.
“This was a very important case for our office and a very important case for the citizens of Maryland,” said Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein. “Mr. Bromwell and his wife have been held accountable for engaging in a pattern of corruption and fraud that extended over seven years. This was not a mistake. This was not a technical violation. This was not a gray area. These were serious crimes of corruption, crimes that deserve to be prosecuted, crimes that people deserve to go to prison for.”
Bromwell?s wife, Mary Patricia, pleaded guilty to a single count of mail fraud. Sentencing guidelines call for her to serve two to three years.
Motz said Mary Patricia Bromwell was a “minimal participant” in the scheme, but said he would take the sentencing guidelines “very seriously.”
Once a powerful Baltimore County Democrat, Bromwell served in the General Assembly for 23 years. He and his wife were indicted in October 2005 in connection with their dealings with W. David Stoffregen, the former president of Poole and Kent, a mechanical-contracting firm.
Prosecutors say the Bromwells received more than $85,000 in construction work on their house and $192,000 for a no-show job taken by Mary Patricia Bromwell at a company operated by Poole and Kent. In exchange, Bromwell helped Stoffregen?s companies win multimillion-dollar minority contracts, prosecutors allege.
Stoffregen pleaded guilty in November. A total of nine people have pleaded guilty in connection to the case.
Thomas Bromwell?s attorney, Barry Pollack, said the Bromwells were happy to end this chapter of their lives.
“Mr. Bromwell has given a tremendous service to the people of Maryland for 24 years,” Pollack said. “These events represent a fraction of a small percentage of the time he spent in public life. We?re happy to have this part of it behind us and focus again on all the good he?s done for people of Maryland and allow the Bromwells to get on with their lives.”
Pollack disputed that Bromwell ripped off Marylanders.
“The taxpayers have gotten tremendous service from Mr. Bromwell,” he said. “The events that arise from this plea do not involve any loss to the citizens of Maryland. The contracts that were given out were given out to qualified contractors who did a good job for the people of Maryland.”
The Bromwells will forfeit up to $2 million in cash and property, including their Parkville home, though Pollack told Motz he hoped the judge would allow them keep their home by substituting cash for the equity the couple has built up in the house.
“The Bromwells would like to be able to do that if it?s possible,” Pollack said.
Special Agent-in-Charge of the Baltimore branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation William Chase said his office is continuing to investigate political corruption in Maryland. He said there would be no further investigations arising from the Bromwell case.
