Bribe

Bill Bleich calls the teachers' signing stipend a "bribe" ("Reject the contract," Oct. 13) He teaches English and drama, but he does not know that a bribe is something given to induce a person to do wrong or commit a crime. He says merit pay will pressure teachers to be less supportive of each other and act in a more self-centered way and then immediately and inconsistently goes on to say teachers are more highly motivated than administrators and selflessly devote large amounts of time to student activities.

Former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson was sentenced Tuesday to more than seven years in federal prison after admitting to a wide-ranging pattern of corruption that permeated virtually every level of county government from health to housing and law enforcement to liquor laws. Johnson, a 62-year-old Democrat, was arrested on extortion, bribery and evidence tampering charges in November 2010 while serving out the final weeks of his eight years as the leader of Maryland's second-most populous county.

Chad Ochocinco 's pretend $1 bribe is going to cost him a lot more. The Cincinnati Bengals receiver was fined $20,000 and reprimanded by the NFL for taking a dollar bill onto the field during an officials' review of one of his catches Sunday. Ochocinco held the dollar in his right hand at his side but didn't give it to the official, who motioned for him to stay away. Ochocinco said he was just having fun, but the league didn't like it. Ray Anderson , the league's executive vice president of football operations, sent Ochocinco a letter that said: "The very appearance of impropriety is not acceptable.

Two more Baltimore police officers pleaded guilty Monday to accepting kickbacks from a Rosedale auto repair shop. Jerry Edward Diggs Jr. and Osvaldo Valentine were convicted of conspiracy and extortion in separate hearings. They each face a maximum of 25 years in prison at their sentencings, scheduled back to back on March 12. But they will likely be sentenced to terms of less than four years, according to their plea agreements. Diggs and Valentine join at least seven other officers who have pleaded guilty in the case, along with the two owners of Majestic Auto Repair Shop: brothers Hernan Alexis Moreno and Edwin Javier Mejia.

In the latest charge resulting from a federal investigation of Baltimore's Housing Authority, a Pittsburgh construction company owner has been accused of conspiring to bribe housing officials, the U.S. attorney announced yesterday.David F. Graciano, an owner of Classic Construction Inc., was charged with converting corporate funds to cash used to bribe former authority project engineer John L. Dutkevich between 1990 and 1993. Company representatives gave Dutkevich $16,000 and paid for a 1991 trip to a Florida golf resort, according to U.S. Attorney Lynne A. Battaglia.

A 74-year-old Brooklyn Park man pleaded guilty yesterday to soliciting a bribe while working for the county government's community development program.William Lawrence Murphy Jr. admitted to soliciting -- and accepting -- a $300 bribe as part of a scheme involving an inflated bill for a contractor's work at a Severn housing rehabilitationproject.Murphy, a "rehabilitation specialist," was arrested last Novemberafter the contractor told police he had succumbed to pressure from Murphy to submit an inflated bill and split the amount overcharged, prosecutor Kathleen Rogers said.

An article in yesterday's editions incorrectly reported that William Zei is the owner of Zenith Building Services Inc. He is the former owner of the company, which operates under new ownership.4( The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.A federal judge sentenced an Ellicott City businessman yesterday to nine months in prison for bribing a union official to avoid giving pay raises and benefits to employees of his janitorial firm.William A. Zei, 47, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Baltimore by Chief Judge Walter E. Black Jr., who also ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine and serve two years' probation for his conviction on a federal bribery charge.

A 75-year-old Brooklyn Park man was placed on five years' probation yesterday in connection with charges that he solicited a bribe while working for the county government's community development program.Two months ago, William Lawrence Murphy Jr. pleaded guilty to soliciting and accepting a $300 bribe as part of a scheme involving an inflated bill for a contractor's work at a Severn housing rehabilitation project.Yesterday, in county Circuit Court, Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr. erased the guilty verdict and granted Murphy probation before judgment.

Floyd Wilbur Dearborn appeared to be just another anonymous midlevel city bureaucrat. But working for Baltimore's Public Works Department paid off for him in a big way.He reaped more than $100,000 in cash, gifts and yearly vacations to Ocean City in a bid-rigging scheme uncovered two years ago by the city's auditor and state prosecutor.In March 1992, Dearborn pleaded guilty to accepting the bribes in return for steering lucrative contracts for sanitation equipment to two trucking equipment companies.

NEW YORK -- Addressing the issue publicly for the first time, George Foreman yesterday denied paying International Boxing Federation officials to sanction a 1995 title bout with unranked Axel Schultz of Germany. "You all should know that I would never pay a bribe," said Foreman, a national spokesman for Meineke Mufflers and other products. "I never paid a bribe. I never needed anything in the ring but a chance." Foreman and promoter Bob Arum had been ordered not to address the issue in public because they were witnesses in a federal case in New Jersey against IBF president Bob Lee and three other officials, who face 32 charges of soliciting and accepting bribes to fix rankings.

Rob Chesson has been running all over his Anne Arundel County opponents this fall, scoring 20 touchdowns in six games. The Old Mill running back rushed for five in last week's 47-10 win over archrival and No. 5 Arundel, carrying the ball 35 times for 216 yards. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior has rushed 139 times this season for 914 yards. He's accumulated 1,261 all-purpose yards to lead the No. 3 Patriots to a 6-0 start. A veteran of the Patriots' 2008 state championship team, Chesson has been clocked at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash and plans to run track in the spring to see if he can lower that time.

A Clarksville man pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges Thursday in a scheme in which he paid off the former's Prince George's County Executive and a county police officer for favors to benefit his liquor stores, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office. Amrik Singh Melhi, 51, admitted to extortion, while his wife, Ravinder Kaur Melhi, 49, pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Prosecutors said her charges involved illegally accessing protected Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration records.

The corporate officer of a Baltimore scrap-metal recycling company was sentenced Wednesday to six months in federal prison followed by six months home detention for bribing a National Security Agency official, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced. Adam Wayne Berg, a third-generation leader of Berg Bros. Recycling Inc., was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, pay a $30,000 fine and $105,000 in restitution. The restitution amount equals the bribe he and a colleague paid NSA employee Robert Adcock for access to valuable recycling materials stored at a Fort Meade warehouse, according to court records.

Former Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson accepted more than $200,000 in bribes and played a central role in a broad corruption conspiracy that involved other county officials, candidates for public office and at least three developers or business leaders, federal officials alleged in new charges filed Monday. A 31-page indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt for the first time charges Johnson with soliciting and accepting bribes. It comes three months after Johnson and his wife, Leslie Johnson, were arrested at their home after they allegedly conspired to hide $79,600 in cash in Leslie Johnson's bra and flush a $100,000 check from a developer down the toilet.

Bill Bleich calls the teachers' signing stipend a "bribe" ("Reject the contract," Oct. 13) He teaches English and drama, but he does not know that a bribe is something given to induce a person to do wrong or commit a crime. He says merit pay will pressure teachers to be less supportive of each other and act in a more self-centered way and then immediately and inconsistently goes on to say teachers are more highly motivated than administrators and selflessly devote large amounts of time to student activities.

Chad Ochocinco 's pretend $1 bribe is going to cost him a lot more. The Cincinnati Bengals receiver was fined $20,000 and reprimanded by the NFL for taking a dollar bill onto the field during an officials' review of one of his catches Sunday. Ochocinco held the dollar in his right hand at his side but didn't give it to the official, who motioned for him to stay away. Ochocinco said he was just having fun, but the league didn't like it. Ray Anderson , the league's executive vice president of football operations, sent Ochocinco a letter that said: "The very appearance of impropriety is not acceptable.

An article in yesterday's editions incorrectly reported that William Zei is the owner of Zenith Building Services Inc. He is the former owner of the company, which operates under new ownership.4( The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.A federal judge sentenced an Ellicott City businessman yesterday to nine months in prison for bribing a union official to avoid giving pay raises and benefits to employees of his janitorial firm.William A. Zei, 47, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Baltimore by Chief Judge Walter E. Black Jr., who also ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine and serve two years' probation for his conviction on a federal bribery charge.

An attendant at a Montgomery County vehicle emission test station was arrested yesterday and charged with accepting a $40 bribe to improperly pass a car belonging to an undercover police officer, state officials said.The attendant and three other attendants, who knew of the bribe, were fired yesterday by the company that administers the vehicle emission tests for the state, officials said."We will not tolerate fraud or anything less than excellent service to our customers," said Anne S. Ferro, head of the state Motor Vehicle Administration.

A Baltimore grand jury indicted a city councilwoman and a developer with close ties to Mayor Sheila Dixon yesterday on bribery charges related to tax breaks for luxury buildings under construction on the city waterfront. The indictments of Councilwoman Helen L. Holton and developer Ronald H. Lipscomb are the most prominent charges to emerge to date from a wide-ranging probe by the Maryland state prosecutor into corruption at City Hall, an investigation that included a search of the mayor's home last summer.

Employees at a privately run Baltimore halfway house have allowed federal defendants to leave the secured facility at night in violation of court-ordered restrictions. Officials at the nonprofit Volunteers of America suspect that two employees - who have subsequently been fired - accepted bribes in exchange for letting the defendants out. But despite questions about the integrity of the program, judges continue to send defendants there because there are few other places in Maryland to house minimum-security defendants awaiting federal trials.