[Jim March]

Just got this in EMail:

From: "Warren Barth" <twodogss@earthlink.net>
To: <concealcarry@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2004 3:20 PM
Subject: [concealcarry] good news (OT)
>
> See bulletpoints@nssf.com but it nice reading the Demon Crats get nailed once
in a while ;-)
>
> Al B.
>
> MARYLAND INDICTMENT . . . The Washington Times reports that Stephen
> P. Amos, an aide to former Maryland Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy
> Townsend, has been indicted for diverting $6.3 million in federal crime
> fighting funds to pay for staffers to work on Townsend's failed run for
> governor in 2002. Amos was the executive director of the Governor's
> Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP) under Democratic
> Governor Parris N. Glendening and faces up to 30 years in prison and a
> fine of $750,000 if convicted.

My reply:

You know what else this means?

The MD shall-issue CCW bill now in play just became a shoe-in.

The anti-gun Democrats just diverted money away from CRIME FIGHTING while at the same time supporting citizen disarmament. If they fight shall-issue now...whoa!

Might also have an effect on that state's efforts to put an AW ban in, but I
predict the biggest effect will be on shall-issue.

[Pendragon]

Never underestimate the ability of liberals to undermine pro gun legislation.

[Spot77]

Jim, I hope you're right.

but I can tell you that Maryland is 65% liberal, 20% Purebred Sheeple, and the rest......well they're just a little bit smarter:D

It's still a huge uphill battle. The Anti's have a LOT of money, and a LOT of influence. (BTW, has anybody seen the lynching that Senator Gianetti (D) has been taking lately due to his opposition of the MD AWB? Funny how he's being investigated for an ethics violation now after Ceasefire MD threatened to ruin him).

In the past two months HUNDREDS of citizens in Maryland have been taking time off of work to attend the AWB hearings in Annapolis. There have been NO citizens there to support the AWB....only paid lobbyists like Leah Barrett (btw, that's NOT her real name) and political wannabes in Montgomery County (Montgomery County, MD is one of the 10 richest counties in the U.S.).

The State Police oppose it, the FOP opposes it, and virtually every police department across the state opposes it EXCEPT Montgomery, Howard and Prince Georges county police depts.

So just because it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, smells like a duck, craps like a duck, and walk likes a duck doesn't mean it's a duck.:(

I know ccw is a different issue from the AWB, but any pro gun bill in Maryland is bound to see a fierce battle.

[spacemanspiff]

i had to register at the baltimore suns website to get access to the article, but its worth it. following is text from the article so no one else has to register there:

======
By Gail Gibson
Sun Staff
Originally published March 18, 2004
The former director of a Maryland agency that distributes millions of dollars in federal crime-fighting grants was indicted on charges he misused $6.3 million, part of which paid for speechwriters and other staff for then-Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, authorities said yesterday.
The charges against Stephen P. Amos, former executive director of the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention, came after a 2-year FBI investigation that clouded Townsend's unsuccessful run for governor in 2002. Maryland's chief federal prosecutor said yesterday that the probe is continuing, but he said Townsend is not a target.

"I think, in all fairness to the former lieutenant governor, I can say the investigation did not uncover any evidence of wrongdoing on her behalf," Maryland U.S. Attorney Thomas M. DiBiagio said in his first public comments about the long-running and politically sensitive investigation.

Townsend did not return calls seeking comment yesterday. Her attorney, Herbert J. Miller Jr., said that Townsend appeared once before the federal grand jury in the case, and that she "never received a target letter, nor do I know of any reason why she should have."

As lieutenant governor, she oversaw the crime-control office and played a major role in its expansion under then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening. But DiBiagio said that Townsend was not aware of the misuse of funds alleged in the indictment against Amos and did not direct the agency to put her workers on its payroll.

Amos is accused of misappropriating money that was supposed to go to projects such as building detention centers, or paying for additional judges, prosecutors or probation officers. Instead of using the funds for those purposes, Amos is accused of directing the money toward salaries of as many as 50 workers, including apparent political aides to Townsend.

An attorney for Amos, 44, a Catonsville resident, said Amos had done nothing wrong during the almost three years he headed the agency. Baltimore defense attorney Gregg L. Bernstein said that, if anything, Amos helped to substantially turn around a state agency that had become an unwieldy, bureaucratic morass.

"At worst, this is an administrative and budget issue," Bernstein said. "It is mind-boggling that the U.S. attorney would turn this into a crime, and we are confident a jury will have the same reaction to this indictment that we do."

Prosecutors face a more immediate hurdle in the case -- a Supreme Court challenge to the law they are relying on to prosecute Amos.

To bring federal charges against Amos, investigators used a broadly drawn public corruption statute that allows federal authorities to investigate corruption in state and local agencies that receive at least $10,000 in federal funding. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a challenge to the law brought by a Minnesota real estate developer who contends it is unconstitutional; the court is expected to rule by June.

DiBiagio acknowledged yesterday that if the court finds the statute unconstitutional on its face, the charges against Amos will fail.

Amos is accused in the indictment of using federal grant money to pay the salaries and benefits of 10 individuals who "were employed on paper by GOCCP but who actually worked on the staff of the lieutenant governor of Maryland." Authorities said Amos also used the crime-fighting money to add as many as 40 positions at the agency.

The indictment alleges that Amos attempted to cover up the misuse of funds by requiring grant recipients to put various employees on their payrolls, while they actually did administrative work at his direction.

Amos could receive up to 30 years in prison if convicted, but he would likely face substantially less time under the federal sentencing guidelines. Former Baltimore police officials Edward T. Norris and John Stendrini are expected to receive no more than 12 months and six months of jail time, respectively, for their guilty pleas to the same federal corruption charge earlier this month. In some instances, the indictment alleged, the agency also required grant recipients to provide automobiles "for the use of these disguised GOCCP employees."

The indictment identified 10 people who worked for Townsend but were paid by the crime control agency. They were: Michael A. Sarbanes, deputy chief of staff; Alice Brauer, receptionist; Ian Brennan, an assistant to Sarbanes; Adam Gelb, executive aide; Everett Hawkins, correspondence writer; Danielle King, correspondence supervisor; and four speechwriters -- Howard Lavine, Sarah Hurwitz, Thomas Wilson and Daniel Franklin.

Bernstein said Amos hired none of those workers during his tenure. He was named executive director of the crime control office in July 2000 and was fired in February 2003, when Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. took office and replaced much of the staff.

The investigation of the state crime-fighting agency came to light in summer 2002 as Townsend, a Democrat, entered the final months of her ultimately unsuccessful campaign for governor against Ehrlich, a Republican.

Townsend had decried the probe as "political garbage," and noted ties between DiBiagio and Ehrlich, who had recommended DiBiagio for the federal prosecutor post a year before.

Asked yesterday about that widely repeated remark, DiBiagio replied: "I'm not going to comment specifically on the lieutenant governor's statement, but it was wrong. She was wrong."

DiBiagio said the case showed the resolve of his office to pursue allegations of public wrongdoing, and he praised an anonymous tipster who first suggested authorities look at the office, saying, "I want to applaud her courage."

"We are committed to changing things and making a difference, because we all deserve better government," he said.

In Annapolis, Ehrlich said his administration had reshaped the crime control office in the past year.

"We have really cleaned up that office," the governor said. "We have good people there."

Other prominent Republicans praised the involvement of federal investigators.

Senate Minority Leader J. Lowell Stoltzfus, an Eastern Shore Republican, said that he and others believed that grant money was being spent on salaries of employees who were working on Townsend's campaign for governor.

"It was being spent for her campaign. That was our interpretation," Stoltzfus said. "We were hearing about it then. We heard about lots of people. I am pleased it is finally getting sunlight."

Sun staff writer David Nitkin contributed to this article.

[MeekandMild]

Jim, don't hold your breath.

I'd suspect that the national media is too busy with Janet's bosom, Coby's rape allegation, the love affair with Senator "THurston Howard III" Kerry, the hunt for suitcase nukes and basketball playoffs for this to ever get any attention.

I've seen this phenomenom for years. They only cut the crap when they want to roast a conservative. :fire:

[MikeK]

Jim,

I wish you were correct, but there's not a snowball's chance. We'll be lucky if the AWB in some form or another doesn't pass. Many THR folks have been contacting reps and attending hearings on both issues.

[kbsrn]

chance that person will be found guilty. I am surprised that they even bother to investigate. They will get a liberal jury who thinks that it is ok to do whatever you want to beat republicans.

[Standing Wolf]

Leftist extremist politics and corruption as usual in Maryland.