From Best Buy to Saks Fifth Avenue, from Old Navy to Giorgio Armani, prosecutors allege Mayor Sheila Dixon went shopping in a big way with other people's money.Does this mean that there is open season on all types of politicians who take their liberties? Mayor Dixon might have done this deed at exactly the wrong time!
Dixon was indicted Friday on 12 counts, including perjury and theft, mostly for activity that occurred while she was City Council president. And most of the charges against her suggest an affinity for both high-end and big-box retail.
At one point in December 2005, the indictment says, Dixon brazenly called an unnamed developer and hit him up for $500 worth of Best Buy gift cards, which she said would be donated to needy families.
Instead, five days later -- and a week before Christmas -- the future mayor allegedly strolled into a Best Buy in downtown Baltimore and spent 19 of the 20 gift cards, walking out with a digital camcorder and a PlayStation 2 controller, among other goods.
Similar scenarios played out several times, always around Christmas, always with gift cards that, at least in name, were supposed to be handed out to the poor, the indictment says.
"The allegation is that she stole from little children at Christmastime," said David Gray, a law professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. "The indictment is alleging that she was a Grinch of the worst kind."
Of course she isn't slowing down right now. Article from the Washington Post:
It was easy to find the symbolism in Mayor Sheila Dixon's first public event since being indicted on theft and perjury charges.I think we have another fighting politician. Perhaps as much of a fighter as Blagojevich. Although perhaps the levity of his crimes are much greater than Mayor Dixon's alleged crimes.With the song "Eye of the Tiger" blasting through speakers, the embattled mayor donned red boxing gloves Saturday and climbed into a ring to perform cardio-kickboxing with a dozen others to promote physical fitness.
But the event didn't go as planned. The boxing ring couldn't handle the workout and soon collapsed beneath them. No one was hurt; Dixon, unfazed, climbed out and continued her workout on the gym floor.
It was vintage Dixon, showing once again that she's not easily rattled. Her demeanor remains unchanged, despite allegations that she took gift cards intended for needy families and lied about gifts from her developer ex-boyfriend.
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