Currie has intervened on Shoppers' behalf several times in recent years when the grocery chain had business dealings with the state, according to documents released by various agencies.
The senator arranged meetings and contacted city and state officials at critical junctures when Shoppers was seeking public financing and other concessions as part of the multimillion-dollar redevelopment of Mondawmin Mall in West Baltimore. He also interceded on the company's behalf on routine transportation projects such as traffic signals and road improvements near Shoppers stores.
State officials who met with Currie to discuss Shoppers business said they were not aware of his employment.
The senator also voted on legislation favorable to the company. In 2005 he voted in favor of a bill authorizing the transfer of a liquor license from one supermarket to another. According to the FBI affidavit, he was in frequent contact with Shoppers representatives and the county's chief liquor inspector at a time when local approval of the transfer had drawn fierce opposition.
Using electronic phone records, FBI agents have also identified hundreds of phone calls Currie made to company officials, often when the company was seeking to influence public officials on legislation and business transactions.
Currie was paid by both Lanham-based Shoppers and its parent company, Supervalu Inc. of Minnesota, according to the affidavit. A Supervalu spokeswoman, Haley M. Meyer, declined to comment last night.
The income information came to light as part of an agreement between Currie's lawyer, Dale Kelberman, and attorneys representing news organizations.
Recent public corruption convictions in Maryland have involved similar sums of money.
This week, former Prince George's County schools Superintendent Andre J. Hornsby was found guilty of six federal counts of corruption. In that case, Hornsby had been accused of splitting a $20,000 commission with his live-in lover after they had negotiated a $1 million contract for her company with the school system. Another consultant had also agreed to pay Hornsby $145,000 in kickbacks, prosecutors said.
In a separate case, former state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge last year. The senator helped steer publicly funded contracts to Poole and Kent, a Baltimore construction company, and he and his wife received thousands of dollars in building materials for their home and a $200,000 salary for Mary Patricia Bromwell's no-show job with the contractor.
gadi.dechter@baltsun.com
laura.smitherman@baltsun.com
