On this day, Jan. 18, in 1990, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry was arrested on charges of possession of cocaine at the then-Vista International Hotel downtown. FBI agents caught Barry on camera smoking crack cocaine with former girlfriend Rasheeda Moore, who agreed to cooperate with the authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence on an earlier drug conviction.
“The bitch set me up!” Barry yelled as police hauled him away. The incident played repeatedly on television.
Barry was convicted on only one charge: a previous misdemeanor for possessing cocaine.
After serving six months behind bars, Barry was elected to the city council, then re-elected mayor in 1994.
In 1997, Congress stripped the mayor of any real power and Barry retired.
He re-entered politics again in 2004, and at age 74 remains councilman for Ward 8.
Scott McCabe
