A top aide of Mayor Sheila Dixon was subpoenaed by state prosecutors last week, marking a possible new phase in the ongoing probe into city hall corruption.
The aide, Howard Dixon ? who is not related to the mayor ? served on her security detail while she was city council president from 1999 to 2006. He now works as a community liaison in the mayor?s office.
The subpoena is the latest development in an investigation that appears to stem from allegations that Sheila Dixon voted for contracts for the company Utech, which employed her sister Janice, while she was council president, but has widened to include other businesses and associates with ties to the mayor.
In November, investigators raided the East Baltimore offices of Doracon, a city contractor that had donated money to Dixon?s mayoral campaign. Seizing computer equipment and files, prosecutors combed through the closed offices of Ronald Lipscomb, the company?s owner and a Dixon confidante.
In September, state prosecutors indicted Dixon?s former campaign chairman, Dale Clark, 45, who later pleaded guilty to failing to file income tax returns. He agreed to cooperate with authorities in the investigation.
In December 2006, Mildred Boyer, president of Union Technologies, known as Utech ? the company that employed the mayor?s sister ? was indicted on charges of forgery, theft and filing false and counterfeit documents. She is awaiting trial.
“It?s been going for quite a long time with no rhyme or reason,” said Dale Kolberman, the mayor?s attorney, who declined to comment on whether he had discussed the most recent subpoena with state investigators.
Kolberman said he did not know why Howard Dixon had been subpoenaed.
Meanwhile, mayoral spokesman Sterling Clifford said that the investigation and the news of the subpoena were not impeding the mayor?s work.
“It is not a distraction for this administration; the mayor is busy running the city,” he said. “There are important things that need to done.”
Examiner staff writer Luke Broadwater contributed to this story.
