Maryland political leaders had a muted reaction Wednesday upon learning that former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, a longtime politician, was indicted on 11 federal charges related to her sales of self-published children’s books.
Federal prosecutors allege that Pugh’s scheme dated back to 2011, when she was a state senator, through her election as mayor in 2016 and her tenure at City Hall. She resigned as mayor in May.
Sen. Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat who has been nominated to become Senate president in January, called Wednesday a “sad day for Baltimore, the Senate and all of Maryland.”
“The indictments today should be a reminder to all elected officials that nobody is above the law, and I commend the hardworking men and women of the state prosecutor and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their work,” Ferguson said in a statement in response to questions from The Baltimore Sun.
Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, who took over after Pugh resigned in May, said he is “heartbroken and completely disappointed in today’s news.”
Anything that gives the city a black eye, he said, makes him and others angry.
“I pray for former Mayor Pugh and am focused on helping our city to heal,” he said.
City Council President Brandon Scott closed a routine Board of Estimates meeting at City Hall by addressing the charges. He said Baltimore is “a city facing a crisis in trust with our citizens."
Pugh’s alleged actions, he said, shake public trust and are especially painful at a time when the city is grappling with unrelenting violent crime. Scott said the council is working toward ethics reforms, with the judiciary committee meeting next week to discuss proposed rules for how elected officials should make financial disclosures.
“This is a message to the young people,” Scott said. “When you sign up to serve, you don’t sign up to become rich. You sign up to help and make other people’s lives better.”
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, whom Pugh brought to the city from New Orleans, also called it “a sad day for Baltimore.”
“We’re here now to move the city forward,” he said. “That’s what we are focused on every single day.”
In the state capital, aside from Ferguson, most political leaders were mum.