A former Maryland state delegate has been accused of accepting more than $33,000 in bribes for supporting medical marijuana and alcohol license applications.
Cheryl Diane Glenn of Baltimore has been charged with federal honest services wire fraud and bribery in newly unsealed criminal information. She resigned from her role as state delegate on Dec. 18, 2019, after representing District 45, which covers parts of Baltimore, and sitting on various committees.
District Attorney Robert K. Hur and FBI special agent Jennifer C. Boone announced the charges. Hur said that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will hold anyone that betrays the public trust for their own greed to account.
“We expect our elected officials to put the interests of the public above their own – we do not expect them to sell their office to the highest bidder,” said Hur.
Glenn served as the Chair of the Banking, Consumer Protection, and Commercial Law Subcommittee of the Economic Matters Committee, the Vice Chair of the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, and the Chair of the Baltimore City Delegation, among other roles.
The criminal information alleges that from March 2018 to February 2019 she accepted bribes in exchange for her “official actions”. Glenn is accused of accepting bribes for voting in favour of a bill that increased the number of marijuana cultivation and processing licenses for an out-of-state company, along with introducing legislation that brought down the minimum number of years of experience required to be a medical director of an opioid maintenance therapy clinic and introducing legislation that created a class B alcohol and liquor license in District 45.
She is specifically accused of meeting associates at a restaurant in Baltimore and agreeing to vote in favour of a bill seeking a marijuana license and introducing legislation to change the framework around alcohol and marijuana licensing, and receiving cash payments totalling $33,750.
Prosecutors allege that Glenn took steps to conceal “her illegal activities”, such as insisting on meeting in person and creating a false loan note on a $15,000 bribe. If convicted, she will face up to 20 years in a federal prison, although actual sentences are typically less than that.
Glenn’s initial appearance and arraignment are scheduled for Jan. 22, 2020, in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
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