By Rosalind S. Helderman, Ovetta Wiggins and Henri E. Cauvin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 3, 2008
The federal agents who recently raided seven Prince George's sites in an investigation of a county development sought information relating to almost three dozen people or companies, ranging from politically connected lobbyists to a carwash near Bowie.
But documents filed in court by federal authorities this week suggest that three men are at the investigation's center: a senior county fire official, a real estate broker and a former member of the County Council. Friends all, two have been investors in a planned development in Greenbelt, an apparent focus of the FBI probe, and the other sponsored council legislation benefiting the massive project.
They are in some respects figures from another era. The former council member, Thomas R. Hendershot, was active in county politics long before Prince George's became a symbol of black affluence. The developer, Patrick Ricker, and the fire official, Karl L. Granzow Jr., are members of extended families with deep roots in the county.
The men, whose homes and offices were raided Sept. 13, have been bound for more than a decade by family, financial and political ties. They have shared meals and golf games and vacationed together in Key West. The scope of the FBI's investigation is not clear, but the ties shared by the three appear to be one area under scrutiny.
Granzow referred all questions about his relationships with Ricker and Hendershot to his attorney, who declined to comment on them. Attorneys for Ricker and Hendershot also declined to comment.
Hendershot, 64, spent more than a dozen years on the county school board before he was elected to the council in 1997.
Although his law license was suspended for a time starting in 2000 for mishandling client fees, his political star never sank as he established himself during nine years on the council as a friend to blue-collar workers and well-heeled developers alike.
White-haired and plainspoken and sounding every bit the Philadelphia native he is, Hendershot made no secret while in office that he enjoyed being wooed, accepting meals and golf games from county businessmen, according to his disclosure forms.
A little known company called Trend that Hendershot incorporated in 2001 appears to have attracted particular attention from federal agents. Many of the documents taken by investigators from his home deal with the company, including Trend's checkbook, business cards, deposit slips and records starting in 2004. Agents also seized information about a golf outing.
Ricker, 49 and built like a power forward, is the scion to a family of successful liquor store owners that has been a fixture in county politics for generations. Gregarious and fast-talking, he has used his fundraising prowess to cement relationships with local and state politicians.
He is also known for extravagant tastes. The wedding of his youngest daughter in December at the Mayflower Hotel featured an ice sculpture and a full orchestra, according to two people who were there. From Ricker's offices and home, the FBI seized records about a Rolls-Royce.
Granzow, 43, started as a volunteer firefighter and rose through the ranks to become president of the firefighters union and eventually deputy chief of the department, a job once held by his father. He is known to be fond of socializing with politicians and businessmen, and one of his younger brothers is married to Ricker's oldest daughter.
The three have turned their friendship into a political alliance. In 2002, convinced that Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend would defeat then-U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to become governor, they organized a huge meet-and-greet for Townsend at Granzow's 5,000-square-foot Upper Marlboro mansion.
"It was packed," said a former county employee who attended the gathering, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the investigation. "Tom did the speaking; Karl had the house; and Pat brought the people."
Ricker has long had a reputation for building relationships with county political leaders through campaign contributions and dinners at Jerry's Seafood, the Lanham restaurant and political institution owned by the family of his father-in-law, Jerome Gainey.
In 2002, he backed former council member M.H. "Jim" Estepp for county executive over Jack B. Johnson. When Johnson won the Democratic primary, Ricker quickly worked to mend fences, holding a $500-a-head fundraiser for Johnson at Jerry's.
In 2004, when Hendershot was about to lose his seat on the council because of term limits, Ricker gave $15,000 to an unsuccessful campaign to add two at-large seats to the nine-member council, a change that would have allowed Hendershot to run again.
At the time, Ricker said he thought that "voters should be able to decide whether there should be two additional seats" on the council.
Opponents of the change said the developers who funded the effort -- none more generously than Ricker -- were attempting to keep an ally on the council. Some community activists had dubbed Hendershot "Text Amendment Tom" because of his use of an unusual legislative device, the zoning text amendment, to secure zoning changes for developers with little or no public participation.
Although some of Ricker's political activity is well documented, his financial dealings with Granzow are less well known. The two were once partners in a development company, Day Homes, along with Thomas Day, a brother-in-law of Granzow's. Federal agents said in court filings this week that they seized documents about Day Homes from Granzow's house and Ricker's offices.
Granzow said in June that he pulled out of the company last year because his status as a county official might have interfered with a Day Homes effort to buy 12 acres of county-owned land.
"I knew those guys wanted to go after that and bid," he said in an interview at the time. "I had a request in to the ethics board for a review, but I pulled out when I knew it could be a holdup for them. I was a small piece of it anyway."
Granzow also said Day Homes included Daniel I. Colton, a county developer who has acknowledged owning part of the Greenbelt development company whose offices, where Ricker works, were raided in the FBI sweep. Colton declined to comment.
Ricker recently acknowledged having a stake in the project, Greenbelt Station, a planned 240-acre development. Granzow acquired a stake in the Greenbelt project in 2003, according to his county financial disclosure filings.
On the council, Hendershot was a strong proponent of the Greenbelt project, seeing it as a way to bring a bit of Ballston or Bethesda to Prince George's, complete with homes, offices and snazzy retail stores. His enthusiasm angered some environmentalists and neighbors of the project, who were dubious about its chances of success and thought it would bring too much traffic to their communities and harm nearby waterways.
In 1998, he sponsored legislation that allowed a mixed-use development at the Greenbelt property, which had been zoned for industrial use. Then, in 2000, he sponsored a bill that allowed the developers to move forward even though they lacked a necessary commitment from a high-end department store.
He was also one of several sponsors of 2006 legislation that made the project eligible for a massive government subsidy, a benefit that Johnson has not acted on.
"Did he push it?" asked former council member Peter A. Shapiro (D), who served on the council with Hendershot. "Yes, sure, he was very engaged in it. But it's a very big project in his district. That's what we were elected to do."
In his day job, Granzow is responsible for much of the administration of the county fire department, including human resources, construction of firehouses and analysis of response times for proposed developments.
But he also has harbored political ambitions. In 2002, Granzow ran unsuccessfully for the House of Delegates. His campaign received contributions from Hendershot, Hendershot's wife and a campaign slate chaired at the time by Hendershot's wife. When Florence Hendershot ran unsuccessfully to succeed her husband in 2006, Granzow returned the favor, donating $400 to her campaign.
After term limits forced Hendershot from office in December 2006, he looked for a new job. Less than a year later, he was hired as a part-time employee of the fire department, making $45,575 a year.
Staff writers Aaron C. Davis and Mary Pat Flaherty and researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
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