O'Malley's Office Accused Of Pressuring State Police

Police suspended Hilltop's license in August 2002. After a hearing, an administrative law judge agreed in May 2003 that the license should be revoked. The revocation was upheld in 2004 in Prince George's Circuit Court. The state attorney general's office considered but decided not to pursue criminal charges.

"I am satisfied that since Hilltop has been shut down, and all safety concerns adequately addressed, that this is the best course of action for us to follow," Carolyn H. Henneman, then the chief of the attorney general's Criminal Investigations Division, wrote in a June 2004 memo.

Hilltop made the first of four attempts to regain a license in 2005. That application and another in 2006 were denied based on the station's history. A police review board recommended denying a third application in early 2007. After that, Hutchins was said to raise the possibility of a trial license.

Exum made multiple attempts to meet with Sheridan after he took over in June. The senator wrote O'Malley on July 26: "Since Colonel Sheridan has been unresponsive in resolving this issue, I am asking for a meeting with you."

Sheridan met with Exum five days later.

"The meeting consisted of yet another attempt to have Hilltop Fleet Services reinstated," Sheridan wrote to Enright in October, as O'Malley was preparing to meet with Exum about legislative issues.

Shortly after Exum's talks with Malone, the governor's aide wrote a letter to Exum in December outlining steps that Hilltop could take to apply for another license. "As you have indicated, you are not asking for special treatment for Hilltop, only fair treatment," Malone wrote. "In keeping with your request, Colonel Sheridan will give Hilltop fair reconsideration."

In January, a trooper assigned to evaluate Hilltop's latest application recommended denial, largely because of the station's history. Bambary agreed. Later in the month, Bambary's immediate superior, Maj. Walter F. Landon, sent an e-mail to his superior concurring.

"I am sure that political intervention will ensue," Landon wrote.

E-mails from the following weeks show high-ranking police walking Wilson, a Hilltop owner, through the process of re-licensure and updating Enright. Bambary and Landon expressed apparent dismay in a Feb. 13 e-mail exchange.

Landon: "I have to personally call Wilson to see if he is going to take the test Friday!!!!"

Bambary: "If he needs a ride to the test site, do you want me to assign someone to pick him up????????"

Landon: "We don't have to give a ride yet but . . . do we have tutors?"

In a memo, Bambary wrote that he was ordered Feb. 25 to prepare a license for Hilltop. On Feb. 29, before the license was delivered, Exum requested a delay in Sheridan's confirmation vote. That same day, Bambary sent an e-mail to Landon saying the license's delivery had been expedited. It arrived the next business day.

Staff writer Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.