Federal prosecutors Thursday accused a contractor of lying under oath in the public corruption case of former state Sen. Thomas Bromwell.
James B. Digman, 62, of Forest Hill, is accused of giving false testimony to a federal grand jury that concealed Bromwell?s relationship with Poole and Kent Co., a mechanical contracting firm whose president pleaded guilty in a scheme prosecutors allege was so profitable he offered Bromwell $80,000 a year to postpone retirement.
The charge against Digman arises from a grand jury investigation into the money trail for contact work done on Bromwell?s home in 2001.
On April 12, 2005, Digman testified in front of the grand jury that work he performed on Bromwell?s house was billed directly to Bromwell and not to Poole and Kent ? testimony that concealed the involvement between Bromwell and W. David Stoffregen, 53, who was president of Poole and Kent Co.
“At the time he gave these answers, the defendant knew them to be materially false,” according to charging documents filed by Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein Thursday.
Digman knew he billed Poole and Kent for the work performed on Bromwell?s house in June 2001 and that more than a year later, he backdated an invoice for the work to Bromwell, prosecutors say.
Once one of most powerful Maryland lawmakers, Bromwell, a Baltimore County Democrat, served in the state?s General Assembly for 23 years, including an eight-year term as president of the Senate Finance Committee.
While in office, prosecutors claim, Stoffregen?s companies gave the Bromwells more than $85,000 in construction work on a new house and $192,000 for a no-show job given Thomas? wife, Mary Patricia Bromwell.
In exchange, Bromwell helped Stoffregen?s companies win multimillion dollar minority contracts, according to prosecutors.
The Bromwells have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for a March 5 trial.
Six others, including Stoffregen, have pleaded guilty in the case.
