PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY
Fundraising Official Faces Theft Charges
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The head of a political fundraising committee in Prince George's County that backs the council chairman and the sheriff has been charged with stealing $5,000 from the committee's account.
Timothy Rabalais, whose uncle is chief of staff for council Chairman Marilynn M. Bland (D-Clinton), is accused of cashing three checks to steal money from the Progress for the People slate.
Such funds can be used only to support a candidate or a cause of the committee, according to a statement from the office of State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh. Rabalais, 45, is the slate's chairman.
David Billings, Bland's chief of staff, said that state investigators began asking questions about the slate's funds more than a year ago and that records had been provided to them. Billings said he had heard nothing more until yesterday, when a reporter's call alerted him to the indictment. Billings said he did not want to comment further until he reviewed the charging document.
Rabalais could not be reached for comment. In campaign finance records, he lists his uncle's home in Brandywine as his address, but Billings said Rabalais does not live there and declined to provide an address or phone number for Rabalais.
Formed in 2006, Progress for the People has been a fundraising vehicle for Bland and Sheriff Michael A. Jackson. Under state law, candidates for County Council in Prince George's cannot accept contributions from developers with pending land-use applications. But the candidates can join contenders for other offices to form political slates, which are allowed to accept developer contributions.
The indictment, returned yesterday by a grand jury in Prince George's, charges Rabalais with three counts of theft, three counts of embezzlement and two violations of election law.
Authorities said the theft and other offenses occurred in 2007, beginning March 7, when Rabalais used a counter check to withdraw $800 from the campaign slate's account. Two similar transactions followed, one March 12 for $1,700 and another April 9 for $2,500.
