December 10, 2019: City of District Heights Mayor Sentenced for Misconduct in Office

City of District Heights Mayor Sentenced for Misconduct in Office

State Prosecutor Charlton Howard announced today that District Heights Mayor Eddie Martin was sentenced to 2 years’ incarceration with all jail time suspended but for one (1) weekend after his conviction for Misconduct in Office after a two day jury trial in November before Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Tiffany H. Anderson earlier this week. The Honorable Tiffany Anderson sentenced Mr. Martin and, in addition to his 2-day jail sentence, he was placed on supervised probation for 5 years and he was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $22,252.50.

In June 2019, Martin was charged via a Criminal Information with one count of misconduct in office. The State presented evidence during the trial that Mr. Martin signed a letter on City of District Heights’ letterhead authorizing the unlawful purchase of approximately fifty-thousand dollars’ worth of Class B and Class C fireworks from Wayne’s World Fireworks and represented that these fireworks were to be used on behalf of the City of District Heights. Martin, however, was aware that he was authorizing the purchase for an acquaintance for his own benefit.

Misconduct in office is a common law misdemeanor that carries any potential sentence that is not cruel and unusual.

“Mr. Martin abused the trust of the residents of District Heights and the privileges of his office. He has now been held accountable. We will continue to do our best to ensure public officials discharge their duties responsibly” said Howard. “I would like to commend Deputy State Prosecutor Kelly Madigan and Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Lindsay Bird for their hard work on this important case.”

This matter was jointly investigated by the Office of the State Prosecutor, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorneys’ Office for the District of Maryland.