Allegedly Solicited and Accepted More Than $33,000 in Bribes
in Less Than a Year
Baltimore Maryland – A federal criminal information was
unsealed today charging former Maryland State Delegate Cheryl Diane Glenn, age
68, of Baltimore, Maryland, with federal honest services wire fraud and bribery
charges. The information was filed on July
23, 2019, and unsealed today. Glenn’s
initial appearance and arraignment are scheduled for January 22, 2020, at 2:30
p.m. in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
The federal charges were announced by United States Attorney
for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur and Special Agent in Charge Jennifer
C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
“We expect our elected officials to put the interests of the
public above their own. We do not expect
them to sell their office to the highest bidder,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K.
Hur. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will
hold accountable those who betray the public trust for their own greed.”
According to the criminal information, until her resignation
on December 18, 2019, Glenn was a Maryland State Delegate representing District
45, which covered portions of Baltimore.
During her tenure, Glenn served as the Chair of the Banking, Consumer
Protection, and Commercial Law Subcommittee of the Economic Matters Committee;
the Vice Chair of the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee; and the Chair
of the Baltimore City Delegation, among other roles.
The criminal information alleges that from at least March 4,
2018 through February 11, 2019, Glenn defrauded the citizens of Maryland of the
right to her honest services by soliciting and accepting bribes in exchange for
her official actions. Specifically, the
information alleges that Glenn accepted $33,750 in bribes from an associate in
exchange for voting in favor of a bill to increase the number of medical
marijuana grower and processing licenses that were available to an out-of-state
company; promising to lead the effort to change the law in order to provide a
preference for Maryland residency to in-state medical marijuana license applicants;
introducing legislation that decreased the number of years of experience
required to be a medical director of an opioid maintenance therapy clinic; and
introducing legislation that created a class B alcohol and liquor license in
District 45.
As detailed in the criminal information, after a meeting on
March 5, 2018 with an associate and two businesspersons, Glenn agreed to use
her position as a state legislator to vote for a bill which could favor Company
1 in its pursuit of a medical marijuana license, in exchange for $3,000 in
cash, which would be used to pay an outstanding tax bill on her residence. Glenn subsequently voted for the bill after
its Third Reading on March 8, 2018, and on April 7, 2018, after amendments from
the Senate. The bill passed and on April
20, 2018, the associate provided Glenn with $3,000 in cash during a meeting at
a restaurant in Baltimore County.
According to the information, on June 7, 2018, Glenn and her
associate met with another businessperson at a restaurant in Baltimore to
discuss medical marijuana licenses.
During the conversation, Glenn allegedly told the businessperson that
people had asked her how a medical marijuana company had been awarded a medical
marijuana growing license without having any high-priced lobbyists. Glenn allegedly responded, “…they know God
and Cheryl Glenn.” A few weeks later,
Glenn followed up with the associate to see if the businessperson was “lookin’
for [Glenn] to help him or something?”
The associate confirmed that the businessperson did want Glenn’s help
and Glenn allegedly asked “…is he going to be makin’ a donation or
something?” On August 10, 2018, the
associate told Glenn that the businessperson had offered the associate $10,000
to get Maryland law changed so that local businesses would be given priority
for medical marijuana licenses. The
associate offered to split the $10,000 with Glenn, who agreed to introduce
legislation to get the law changed in exchange for a payment of $5,000. The information alleges that in order to get
the businessperson to make the $10,000 payment, Glenn subsequently sent the
associate an e-mail pledging to take the lead in the effort to get the law
changed so that Maryland residents received a preference for medical marijuana
licenses. On August 23, 2018, the
associate allegedly gave Glenn $5,000 in cash during a meeting at a Baltimore
restaurant.
The information further alleges that on October 18, 2018,
Glenn pre-filed legislation to reduce the required experience for medical
directors at opioid maintenance therapy clinics in order to receive another
$5,000 payment from the businessperson.
The payment was provided on October 22, 2018, and Glenn subsequently
introduced the bill on January 9, 2019.
Further, Glenn allegedly agreed to introduce legislation to obtain a
liquor license for a restaurant that the businessperson wanted to open in
Glenn’s district, in exchange for $20,000, with the initial payment of $5,000
to be made up front and the remaining $15,000 payment when the legislation was
introduced. According to the
information, Glenn received the $5,000 payment on December 10, 2018. On January 28, 2019, Glenn introduced the
bill to obtain the liquor license and on February 11, 2019, allegedly received
a bribe payment of $15,000.
Glenn allegedly took steps to conceal her illegal
activities, including: agreeing not to deposit bribe payments in her bank
account; agreeing to meet in person to discuss the details of bribes rather
than discussing them over the phone; and creating a false loan note for the
$15,000 bribe payment, falsely stating that the money was a gift and was in no
way connected to her position as a State Delegate. Further, the information alleges that on at
least two occasions, Glenn texted an associate who was providing the bribe payments
on behalf of the businesses and falsely advised the associate that the bribe
payments were short a total of $750, which the associate subsequently provided
to Glenn.
If convicted, Glenn faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in
federal prison for honest services wire fraud and five years in federal prison
for the bribery charge. Actual sentences
for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal
district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
A criminal information is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by criminal information
is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal
proceedings.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI for
its work in the investigation. Mr. Hur
thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek E. Hines and Leo J. Wise, who are
prosecuting the case.
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