Gone was the swagger of his days as chairman of the powerful state Senate Finance Committee. No flashy clothing. No glad-handing the crowd. Yesterday, Thomas L. Bromwell Sr. wasn't the man to see in Annapolis, he was the man to be seen in Courtroom 1A in the Edward A. Garmatz federal courthouse pleading guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and the filing of false tax returns.
Mr. Bromwell's wife, Mary Patricia, also entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court, but her role in the enterprise is regarded as relatively modest - the acceptance of a salary for a no-show job at Poole and Kent, the construction company that funneled money to Mr. Bromwell and worked on the family's Parkville home in return for the senator's influence over state contracts.
The Bromwells' plea agreements don't fully resolve the public corruption case. That won't happen until Nov. 16, when U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz imposes a sentence that could land the former state senator in federal prison for up to eight years under federal sentencing guidelines. But it does remove any lingering shred of doubt about Mr. Bromwell's guilt, and so it was a sad day - not only for Mr. Bromwell and his family but also for citizens of a state that has seen its share of public corruption cases.
Sounding a theme that is likely to be repeated at sentencing, Mr. Bromwell's attorney, Barry J. Pollack, told reporters afterward that taxpayers weren't especially hurt by Mr. Bromwell's actions because the contracts in question were fulfilled to the state's satisfaction.
Further, he noted, the public has gotten "tremendous service" from his client's 24 years in the legislature.
Perhaps so, but whatever good Mr. Bromwell did - whatever difficult votes he made or constituents (the non-bribing kind) he helped - is of little consequence now. The trading of money for influence is no mere ethical lapse; it is a violation of the public trust, a flagrant abuse of power. The damage done to public confidence in state government may not show up on any ledger, but it's a considerable loss just the same.
It has been nearly four years since word first leaked out that the FBI was investigating Mr. Bromwell and officials at Poole and Kent. Federal authorities, including U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein, deserve credit for the successful prosecution of the Bromwells and seven others associated with the case.
But while it would be comforting to think that the General Assembly has gotten the message from this ordeal, a legislature that continues to embrace felon lobbyists and rejects meaningful campaign finance reform has produced precious little evidence that there's been much change at all.