State Sen. Ulysses Currie, whose work for Shoppers Food Warehouse is being investigated by the FBI's public corruption squad, was paid more than $200,000 by the regional grocery chain over five years, according to documents unsealed yesterday.
Federal authorities are looking at whether the Lanham-based supermarket company hired the leading Prince George's County Democrat to use the prestige of his office to secure favorable legislation and actions by state agencies, documents show.
According to portions of a search warrant affidavit unsealed at the request of The Sun and other media organizations, Currie was paid about $207,000 between 2003 and 2007. According to the affidavit, he reported the income to the Internal Revenue Service through at least 2006. Some portions of the document relating to taxes are redacted.
Currie, chairman of the Senate's powerful budget committee, never disclosed his employment by Shoppers on General Assembly ethics forms, but the fact that he reported the income to the IRS works in his favor, several white-collar defense attorneys said yesterday.
"Right away, he's in very good shape from a white-collar perspective," said Andrew D. Levy, a Baltimore defense attorney who specializes in state and federal litigation. "As we know from Al Capone ... one of the ways people get in trouble is that even if you can't prove the underlying offense, you show they didn't pay their taxes."
Levy said Currie's Shoppers' income, averaging $40,000 a year, did not strike him as "all that much." There is "nothing inherently obscene about that amount," Levy added, "but is it enough to interest prosecutors? Sure."
Levy said jurors would not likely begrudge a part-time politician other employment. Currie makes $43,500 as a senator.
Byron L. Warnken, a University of Baltimore criminal law professor, said jurors' reaction to his outside employment would likely depend on the nature of Currie's work for Shoppers.
"In light of the power he has, the immediate question that arises is, 'Gee, was he receiving this for more than just consulting services?' " Warnken said. "Was it a bribe? Was there some other quid pro quo going on? I don't know how much work he did."
Some details of Currie's work for the chain have come to light since federal investigators conducted simultaneous raids on his home and on Shoppers' headquarters in May.
