Posts Tagged ‘SCANDAL’
Breaking: Read the Taxicab Indictments; Suspects Tried To Bribe Leon Swain Jr.
Today, 27 individuals have been arrested in connection with the growing taxicab bribery scandal. Moments ago, two indictments were unsealed. You can read them here and here. Nearly 30 individuals have been indicted in federal court.
One indictment concerns three individuals: Yitbarek Syume, Berhane Leghese, and Amanuel Ghirmazion. They have been charged with bribing and conspiring to bribe the chairperson of the taxicab commission---Leon Swain Jr., who then cooperated with authorities. If convicted, the three each face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. These three individuals are alleged to have:
knowingly and willfully conspired and agreed together and with each other, and with other persons both known and unknown to the grand jury, to commit the following offenses against the United States: that is to directly and indirectly, corruptly give, offer, and promise things of value to the Chairperson, with intent to influence official acts....[they] agreed to give approximately $220,000 in cash to the Chairperson in return for the Chairperson's agreement to issue numerous multi-vehicle taxicab company licenses.
According to the indictment, they agreed to pay the Chairperson approximately $10,000 per license for multi-vehicle taxicab companies.
Read More "Breaking: Read the Taxicab Indictments; Suspects Tried To Bribe Leon Swain Jr." »
Marion Barry Is the Tree, Says Former Girlfriend. “All of Us Are the Branches.”
Chenille Spencer, once a regular ladyfriend of Marion Barry's---and a regular with him at Player's Lounge---described her connection to Barry in 2006 as "loyal." She remains so. In a phone call to Washington City Paper to "speak on the the police and the way Mr. Barry was treated," Spencer defended her former flame and current friend.
"Mr. Barry is like a tree and all of us are the branches and leaves," she says. "I am just one of the apples that never fell off." Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, the woman at the center of the latest Barry scandal, "needs to know that she has to accept certain things. She will never be able to have a public dinner with him....She needs to accept the fact that Mr. Barry is loved by reverends, bishops, friends, me....You'll never have him all to yourself."
Read More "Marion Barry Is the Tree, Says Former Girlfriend. “All of Us Are the Branches.”" »
Bill Richardson Finally Admits There Was No Play for Pay Scheme in His Baseball Past
I saw my first Cape Cod League game over the summer, expecting to catch Fairfax phenom Mike Bianucci playing for the Cotuit Kettleers.
As luck would have it, the W.T. Woodson grad and Auburn University star signed a contract with the Texas Rangers and left the Cape to mere hours before game time to start his pro career.
But while I was at the game and talking with locals about the Kettleers' history, more than one fan mentioned that Bill Richardson, the current New Mexico governor and burgeoning scandal magnet, was on the team in the 1960s.
Richardson, I was told, was so good that he'd been drafted by the Kansas City Athletics.
Read More "Bill Richardson Finally Admits There Was No Play for Pay Scheme in His Baseball Past" »
