Jun 19, 2008 12:34 pm US/Eastern
9 People Subpoenaed In Dixon Probe
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
Baltimore City Solicitor George Nilson says four more subpoenas have been issued by state prosecutors investigating Mayor Sheila Dixon.
Nilson says two of the subpoenas went to city employees and two went to non-employees.
Mike Hellgren reports that brings the total to nine, for the number of subpoenas issued. Seven of the recipients are city employees.
Investigators with the state prosecutor's office, who have been probing Mayor Sheila Dixon's financial dealings during her tenure as City Council president, searched her home Tuesday for more than seven hours.
Dixon told Eyewitness News at Wednesday's Board of Estimates meeting, she is keeping her focus on Baltimore City and has nothing more to say about the investigation.
"For those who might think I am a little stressed out right now, I'm not, because I look at my God and what I do physically and mentally to move forward," Dixon said.
She didn't discuss what the investigators took.
"I'm really not going to discuss what they took from the house. They did provide me with a list and I have that," she said.
The investigators are looking into possible wrongdoing in two cases. The first is that Dixon voted on contracts that financially benefitted her sister's employer.
"She was supposed to recuse herself from voting on contracts with that company as a member of the Board of Estimates that approves contracts and she didn't," said Matthew Crenson.
The second case involves the mayor's former campaign manager. The city paid his company thousands of dollars to work on the City Council's computers with no contract.
Both investigations date to Dixon's tenure as City Council president.
The head of the company Dixon's sister worked for and that former campaign manager, Dale Clark, have both pleaded guilty to tax charges stemming from the investigation.
"I've cooperated with them. If you have more detailed questions, I think you should ask my attorney," Dixon said
Byron Warnken, a legal analyst, knows the state prosecutor. It's an appointed position.
"I have probably more faith in their neutrality and ability to do their job than I would in an elected prosecutor's office," he said.
"The state has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on investigations which went nowhere. This is another example of those," said Dale Kelberman, Dixon's attorney.
"You can't just have a fishing expedition, `Gee, I'm sure there's some stuff about a crime over there,'" Warnken said.
Kelberman says Dixon and her two children were in their Baltimore home at 6:30 a.m. when representatives of the prosecutor's office arrived with a search warrant and Dixon let them in.
Kelberman says Dixon has done nothing wrong and says that's why Dixon has not been charged. Kelberman, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Maryland who concentrates on white-collar criminal defense cases, is also representing state Sen. Ulysses Currie, who is being investigated by federal authorities.
Dixon told Eyewitness News she has "done nothing wrong."
Investigators left the house with at least six boxes and a cooler.
State prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh says his office does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations.
The mayor's lawyers and councilmembers are critical of the time and taxpayer money spent by an independent prosecutor whose investigation appeared to be at a dead end.
One member of the City Council is calling this a violation of the mayor's home and privacy.
"My thought is I'm tired of my mayor being subject to home invasions. I think they should back off and go after serious problems and leave the mayor alone," said Mary Pat Clarke.
"These investigations are done in secret, confidential, so that facts don't dribble out and public officials don't get tried in the press," said Andrew Levy, University of Maryland School of Law.
Dixon succeeded Governor Martin O'Malley as mayor in 2007. She had previously served on City Council.
At this stage, there's no way to tell what prosecutors will do with the seized documents or where the investigation goes from here. Dixon has not been charged with any crime.
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