EVEN IN PLEADING guilty to federal corruption charges Tuesday, Jack B. Johnson, the former Prince George’s county executive, did not acknowledge publicly the ethical sleaze that was a hallmark of his administration or the stain it has left on the county’s reputation. Yes, Mr. Johnson, “this has been a very trying time” for you and your family. And, yes, “we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the Lord.” But more pertinent to the county is the now undisputed truth that you ran a crooked government that accepted bribes and dispensed sweetheart deals, no-bid contracts, jobs and grants to the well-connected.
Mr. Johnson, who pleaded guilty to felony counts of extortion and tampering with witnesses and evidence, was caught red-handed by the FBI and federal prosecutors from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office. His plea agreement makes clear the breathtaking corruption that was at the heart of his daily operations. In private, his phone conversations, wiretapped and recorded by the FBI, were about exacting cash — tens of thousands here, tens of thousands there — in return for favors rendered.
Mr. Johnson’s taint has not been entirely erased from county government. It continues in the person of his wife, Leslie Johnson, who is alleged to have packed her underwear with almost $80,000 in cash at his instigation in a vain attempt to hide it when FBI agents knocked on the Johnsons’ front door last fall. Mrs. Johnson, elected to the County Council last fall, is listed by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-
conspirator. It appears she has so far refused to enter into a plea agreement and may face trial in the coming months.
In the meantime, the FBI wiretaps reveal the truth of what was widely assumed — that Mr. Johnson was the force behind his wife’s campaign for County Council, squeezing money from developers on her behalf. He had every intention of using her power on the council — from a perch he hoped would include the chair of the powerful zoning committee — to continue dispensing favors and, presumably, extracting bribes even after he left office. “I’ll have Leslie to, ah, take care of things for you,” he assured Mirza Hussein Baig, a developer who pleaded guilty to conspiracy last December for funneling well over $100,000 to Mr. Johnson as well as the county housing director.
In the event, the council has barred Mrs. Johnson from serving on any committee, thus severely limiting her power. That was a good start. Rushern L. Baker III, the new county executive, followed up by pushing through ethics reform measures that may have a positive effect, even though they were watered down by the council. He also formed a task force on ethics, whose final recommendations are likely to include the establishment of an inspector general’s office. If it is truly independent, that may have an important cleansing effect.
But Prince George’s is not out of the woods yet. Its reputation has been badly tarnished. Too many public officials have long regarded their role as doing favors for friends, often with public funds, and preferably without accountability to the public or scrutiny from the media or any other “outside” element. Mr. Baker is on the right road, but he will need the full support of the council to reinforce his message.
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