
Jack Johnson walks out of U.S. District Court with his
lawyer Jeff Harding in Greenbelt, Md., Tuesday, Dec 6, 2011.
Former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty this summer to his role in wide-ranging pay-to-play schemes in the county.
District Court Judge Peter Messitte sentenced Johnson to 87 months in prison, three years of supervised release afterward and a $100,000 fine. Johnson also must enter an alcohol or substance abuse program.
Johnson, who served as county executive for eight years, was arrested in November 2010, near the end of his last term, and pleaded guilty in May to extortion and witness and evidence tampering charges. Prosecutors found ample in evidence in wiretapped conversation of Johnson accepting as much as $1 million in bribes, influencing land deals, and setting up his wife Leslie Johnson to continue influencing politics in Prince George's County long after he was gone.
The mountain of evidence compiled by federal investigators proved that "government in Prince George's County literally was for sale," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Johnson accepted bribes as early as 2003, his first year as county executive, and over the course of his two terms accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, gifts, campaign contributions, trips, meals and other items of value.
In a 76-page sentencing memorandum outlining Johnson's crimes, U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein had asked the judge to "impose a sentence that resonates loudly, the 'pay-to-play' culture in Prince George's County is at an end."
Among his conspirators are Dr. Mirza Hussain Baig, a local physician and developer, developers Patrick Ricker and Daniel Colton, as well as local business owners, county officials and an official with the county fire department.
His wife, former Councilwoman Leslie Johnson, has her own sentencing scheduled on Friday. She admitted to flushing a $100,000 check down the toilet and stuffing $79,600 in cash in her bra and underwear before trying to elude FBI agents who entered the couple's Mitchellville home in November 2010, when the couple were arrested.
Leslie Johnson faces a 12 to 18 months sentence.