Former MD State Del. Cheryl Glenn Charged With Wire Fraud, Bribery
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- More corruption charges were announced Monday morning against a Baltimore city politician.
Former Maryland Del. Cheryl Glenn was charged with federal honest services wire fraud and bribery. Glenn, who represented Baltimore City's District 45 for 12 years, resigned last week on Dec. 18.
The charging documents that describe details of the allegations against 68-year-old Glenn were unsealed Monday. The information was filed back on July 23.
Glenn allegedly defrauded the citizens of Maryland between March 2, 2018, and February 11, 2019, by allegedly soliciting and accepting bribes in exchange for her official actions, according to the criminal complaint.
U.S. Attorney Robert Hur said she allegedly accepted nearly $34,000 in bribes to vote in favor of a bill that would increase the number of licenses available to an out-of-state marijuana growing company. She also allegedly promised to lead the effort to change the law to provide a preference for in-state residency for medical marijuana applicants. Glenn also said she would allegedly introduce legislation that would loosen laws on years of experience needed to be a medical director of an opioid maintenance therapy clinic as well as create a Class B alcohol and liquor licenses in her district.
The indictment also shows how Glenn took steps to conceal the scheme, but only meeting people in person, creating a false loan note for a $15,000 bribe and she avoided depositing the payments into a bank account.
"Unfortunately, the allegations unsealed in the charging document today show Miss Glenn betrayed that public trust," Hur said.
The criminal information laid out alleged verbatim conversations Glenn had in which she explicitly asked for people to "cough up" money.
In April, as the leader of Baltimore's delegation in Annapolis, Glenn urged then-Mayor Catherine Pugh to resign as allegations came out regarding Pugh's "Healthy Holly" book scheme.
Hur said he has increased the number of prosecutors working on corruption-related cases like those involving Pugh and Glenn, calling rooting out public corruption "a priority of this office."
Glenn's initial appearance and arraignment are on January 22 at 2:30 p.m. She's expected to turn herself in to federal authorities before then.
If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud charges and five years in federal prison on the bribery charge.
WJZ made multiple attempts to reach Glenn for comment; they were unsuccessful.
Clarification: Initially we reported Glenn was indicted on the charges of wire fraud and bribery, but she waived her right for the case to go in front of a grand jury. So she was just charged in the case.
