Baltimore mayor indicted on theft, perjury charges

[January 10, 2009]  BALTIMORE (AP) -- For Sheila Dixon's entire tenure as mayor, a City Hall corruption probe has threatened to overshadow successes that have included a reduction in violent crime.

Dixon, who took office in 2007, has consistently denied wrongdoing, but many political observers wondered when or if an indictment would come from the investigation into her financial dealings as mayor and City Council president.

The answer came Friday, when Dixon was indicted on charges that she accepted illegal gifts, including travel, fur coats and gift cards intended for the poor that she allegedly used instead for a holiday shopping spree.

A grand jury indicted Dixon on 12 counts, including four counts of perjury and two counts of theft over $500. She was also charged with theft under $500, fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary and misconduct in office.

The State Prosecutor's Office said Dixon received holiday gift cards for four years from several people. Prosecutors said the gift cards were to be distributed to needy families, but were allegedly used by Dixon to buy electronics -- including an Xbox, a PlayStation 2 and a camcorder -- clothes and other merchandise and also handed out to members of her staff.

"Time will prove that I have done nothing wrong, and I am confident that I will be found innocent of these charges," Dixon said in a statement.

Dixon, a 55-year-old Democrat, said she would not step down.

Her attorney, Arnold M. Weiner, sharply criticized State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh.

"Sheila Dixon has been the state prosecutor's singular, personal obsession over the past four years," Weiner said. "There wasn't a bedsheet that he failed to look under or a lead that he found too trivial for him to pursue personally."

Rohrbaugh declined through his office to respond to Weiner's comments.

The charges of theft over $500 are felonies and each carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Maximum penalties carried by the other charges range from 10 years for each perjury count to 18 months for misdemeanor theft.

Dixon served on the City Council from 1987 through 2007 and as council president from 1999 through 2007. She became mayor in January 2007, finishing the term of Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley. She was elected to a full, four-year term later that year.

Despite the investigation that began in March 2006, Dixon earned praise for efficient management, shrewd hiring and coolheaded responses to crises. Also on her watch, there was a historic drop in homicides: Baltimore recorded 234 slayings in 2008, its lowest total in 20 years.

The indictment against Dixon does not name Ronald H. Lipscomb, a prominent developer who briefly dated the mayor and who was indicted Wednesday on one charge of bribing a City Council member. But Weiner confirmed Lipscomb was "Developer A" mentioned in the indictment who showered the mayor with gifts and took several lavish trips with her in late 2003 and early 2004.

Dixon received Best Buy gift cards from Lipscomb's company in December 2004 and held onto some for a year before using them to buy CDs, DVDs and a video game, according to the indictment.

Dixon has never listed any gifts from Lipscomb on financial disclosure forms. At the time of Dixon and Lipscomb's affair, his company was involved in several projects that received city tax breaks.

Weiner said most of the gift cards mentioned in the indictment were private gifts from Lipscomb.

After consulting with City Solicitor George Nilson, Weiner said the charges would not affect Dixon's ability to continue in her job.

[Associated Press; By BEN NUCKOLS]

Associated Press writers Alex Dominguez, Ben Greene and Kasey Jones in Baltimore and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Md., contributed to this report.

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