A former city transportation official who ran the Charm City Circulator and water taxi programs was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in prison on charges he took $90,000 in bribes.
Barry Stephen Robinson, 65, of Accokeek, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of bribery, and one count of money laundering as part of a scheme he engaged in earlier this year while he was Chief of the Division of Transit and Marine Services of the Baltimore City Department of Transportation, according to prosecutors.
Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake also ordered Robinson to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term ends.
Robinson resigned from city government in October, a week before federal officials accused him of taking a $20,000 cash bribe in exchange for erasing a $60,000 debt owed to the city for advertising on Circulator buses, and a $70,000 bribe in exchange for selling off $250,000 worth of city bus stop shelters. He planned to use some of the money to fund his retirement, according to the indictment.
The news prompted the city transportation department to undertake a "thorough review of all internal monetary controls and procedures."
"Barry Stephen Robinson took a $20,000 bribe to cancel a $60,000 debt owed to Baltimore City, and a $70,000 bribe to allow the theft of city property worth $250,000," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. "This sort of corruption can occur when dishonest people are trusted to handle valuable government property."
James Wyda, federal public defender for the district of Maryland, said Robinson is "profoundly remorseful for his crime and the harm it has done" to the community.
"He is going to work hard to make amends in every way that he can," Wyda said. "This is a difficult day for Barry Robinson and his family .... We were grateful that Judge Blake expressed that Mr. Robinson is a good man and the commission of this crime was out of character for him."
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