A Baltimore City housing official pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing gift cards purchased to buy Christmas gifts for needy — a surprising development in the state prosecutor’s investigation into Mayor Sheila Dixon.
Housing Assistant Commissioner Lindbergh Carpenter, 44, of Owings Mills, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of theft under $500. He was sentenced to 250 hours of community service and probation, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, State Prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh said in a statement.
“There can be no excuse for public servants stealing from the very people who they are supposed to be serving,” Rohrbaugh said. “Public employees who steal from the needy should be, and will be, prosecuted — regardless of the position they hold or the amount they have stolen.”
In December of 2007, Carpenter purchased Toys R Us gift cards for “the specific purpose” of distributing those cards to needy children during Dixon’s Holly Trolly Charitable Tour, prosecutors said.
Carpenter stole seven — or $140 worth — of the leftover cards and used them to help buy a Nintendo Wii game system for his family, prosecutors said.
Carpenter has agreed to cooperate with Rohrbaugh as he attempts to convict Dixon, whom he’s accused of failing to report gifts from a developer and misusing gift cards intended for needy families.
Dixon, 55, is charged with perjury, theft, fraudulent misappropriation, and misconduct in office. Dixon has said she has done nothing wrong and will be exonerated.
The indictment alleges that Dixon did not disclose gifts in 2004 from a real estate developer she was dating, Ronald Lipscomb, including travel, lodging and other gifts used by the then-Baltimore City Council president to purchase fur coats.
The indictment also alleges that Dixon collected gift cards from developers intended for needy families, but instead used the cards to purchase a video game system, CDs, and DVDs for her family or gave them to staff members.
The mayor’s office declined to comment on Carpenter’s plea.
