DISTRICT BRIEFING

Friday, July 11, 2008

SOUTHEAST

Ex-Director of Nonprofit Overcharged City

The former head of a Southeast Washington nonprofit organization was ordered yesterday to repay $60,000 to the District government after a jury found she overcharged the city for meals and services.

Concha Johnson, who led the now-defunct Senior Citizens Counseling Service, was found responsible for 12 false claims involving meals and other services for the elderly. The jury verdict, returned in D.C. Superior Court, came in a civil lawsuit filed by the city.

The D.C. government contended that Johnson, 58, was responsible for nearly $350,000 in fraudulent claims filed from October 2001 through July 2003. The claims were paid with grants through the D.C. Office on Aging until an inspector general's audit uncovered problems in 2004. Investigators also claimed Johnson at times required senior citizens to pay for meals, which were supposed to have been free.

Johnson is a longtime community activist in Ward 8. During his closing arguments this week, Johnson's attorney, Frederick D. Cooke Jr., told the jury that she could be faulted for mismanagement, not fraud. Cooke and Johnson declined to comment after the verdict.

-- Keith L. Alexander

NORTHEAST

Marshal Shoots Knife-Wielding Offender

A U.S. marshal serving a warrant yesterday morning in Northeast Washington shot and wounded a man who was threatening him with a knife, authorities said.

The incident occurred at 8:30 a.m. at a residence in the 3300 block of 22nd Street, when Fernando Morris, 46, refused to drop his knife, said Nikki Credic, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service.

The marshal shot Morris once in the abdomen, Credic said. Morris was listed in serious condition at an area hospital yesterday. No one else was hurt in the incident.

Morris was wanted on a parole violation related to a cocaine distribution charge, authorities said.

-- Allison Klein

THE CAPITOL

Visitor Center Complex to Open Dec. 2

The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, the $621 million, state-of-the-art exhibition, tourist and legislative complex that has been under construction for six years, will open Dec. 2, congressional leaders announced yesterday.

The underground center beside the east front of the Capitol is decorated with skylights, fountains and spiral staircases, and will have exhibits, a 400-seat restaurant and two orientation theaters.

A staging site for tours of the Capitol, it will also display the 19-foot, 150-year-old plaster model for the bronze statue of Freedom that was placed atop the Capitol dome Dec. 2, 1863.

-- Michael E. Ruane