October 30, 2019: Candidate for Sheriff in Baltimore City Pleads Guilty to Campaign Violations

CANDIDATE FOR SHERIFF IN BALTIMORE CITY PLEADS GUILTY TO CAMPAIGN VIOLATIONS

The Office of the State Prosecutor announces that Richard Parker, a candidate for Baltimore City Sheriff in 2014, plead guilty on Tuesday to filing a campaign finance report with false and misleading information and signing an electronic submission of one of his campaign forms without express consent of his treasurer.

The State and Parker reached a pre-indictment plea agreement and pursuant to that agreement the Honorable Michael Wachs of the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court sentenced Parker to one year suspended with three years unsupervised probation and 100 hours of community service. Parker filed campaign finance report on or about January 1, 2015 that indicated that Parker had over $40,000 in his campaign account for the Committee to Elect Richard Parker, of which he was Chairman, and reported a bank account number that did not exist. His actual bank account for the Committee to Elect Richard Parker never contained an amount close to $40,000. Parker also allegedly filed a campaign report containing the signature line of his treasurer, over the line “Signature of Treasurer” when his treasurer had not consented to have the forms signed in her name and had not signed the form herself or examined the form and its contents.

“It is essential that people are held accountable when they fail to comply with laws to preserve transparency in the democratic process,” said Kelly Madigan, Deputy State Prosecutor.

The Office of the State Prosecutor would like to thank the State Board of Elections for their assistance in this investigation.