distributed by an agency overseen by Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend since at
least April in a probe that has included grand jury testimony by an official of
a Prince George’s County nonprofit in June.
Two top officials of Safe Streets
2000 Inc., a nonprofit that received state grants for community programs in
central Prince George’s, said in separate interviews yesterday that FBI agents
arrived at the group’s Largo office with a subpoena for all of
the group’s records in April.
Terry Lawlah, Safe Streets’ paid executive
director, appeared before the grand jury and testified for “about 10 minutes,”
said Del. Joanne C. Benson, the group’s co-founder and unpaid president.
More Top Picks Ryobi Vs Ego String Trimmers
“When the grand jury looked at our records, they saw every i was dotted and
every t was crossed – no foolishness,” Benson said in her first public comments
since the story was reported.
Benson, a Prince George’s Democrat, said Lawlah
came out of the grand jury room “scratching her head” over what federal
investigators were looking for. Lawlah said she did not get the impression that
the organization was the target of the probe.
The three-term delegate said
neither she nor her personal records were subpoenaed. Benson said she
accompanied Lawlah to Baltimore to lend moral support and was not asked to
testify.
“We have not heard a mumbling word since” from the prosecutors,
Benson said.
Prosecutors also have subpoenaed records of the Governor’s
Office of Crime Control and Prevention, which
Townsend oversees.
Although Townsend said she learned of the federal
investigation “about a month ago” from the crime-control
office, a spokesman for that office could not
say last night when the agency received its subpoena. Nor will the agency detail
which records were requested by the federal authorities. It is also unclear when
the agency learned of the subpoena served in April to the Prince George’s
nonprofit.
Initial news reports about the investigation this week set off a
round of political recriminations between Townsend and Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich
Jr., her leading Republican rival in the governor’s race.
For the second
straight day, Townsend questioned the motivations of U.S. Attorney Thomas M.
DiBiagio – who was backed for the job by Ehrlich – in conducting the
investigation.
“It’s an amazing coincidence that the U.S. attorney would take
on a tiny little office and a $40,000 grant when there are so
many other challenges to be involved in,” Townsend said.
She also questioned
Ehrlich’s statement that he has not had any contact about the investigation with
DiBiagio.
“I’ve seen him not tell the truth once,” Townsend said, referring
to allegations Ehrlich made regarding juvenile crime statistics.
“I’ll see what he’s doing in this case as well.”
Ehrlich said last night that
he stands by his statement that he has not spoken to DiBiagio. “Does she really
think the U.S. attorney and the FBI are working together to hurt her campaign?
It’s incredible,” Ehrlich said. DiBiagio has declined to comment.
In using
the $40,000 figure, Townsend was apparently referring to the approximate amount
of payments to subcontractors out of a 2001 state grant of $503,000 to a
partnership of Safe Streets 2000 and Los Angeles-based National Homes Trust.
The governor’s crime office routed $41,950
through an unrelated nonprofit, Quiet Fire Repertory Co., to former journalist
Bruce W. Branch and two other subcontractors after National Homes Trust refused
to pay for work Branch and the subcontractors had done.
Officials defended
the transaction as a legal “pass-through” designed to comply with federal law.
Lawlah said Safe Streets officials had no knowledge of the payments and owed no
money to the recipients because they were not her group’s subcontractors.
Chuck Porcari, press secretary for Gov. Parris N. Glendening, said the governor
would not comment on the investigation and the operations of the
crime-control office. Porcari referred calls to
Townsend, noting that she has been delegated authority over the
office.
New details about the troubled grant emerged in
copies of documents that the crime office, known
as GOCCP, provided to The Sun.
In a letter to Terry Lawlah dated Aug. 3,
2001, GOCCP Deputy Director of Programs Sonya T. Proctor wrote that the National
Homes Trust was “found negligent in two critical areas.”
The nonprofit
group’s program was found to be serving only 30 youths – not the 200 it had said
it would serve in its grant application, she wrote. And it had submitted
invoices for $26,000 in expenses to a subsidiary of Safe Streets, Community
Services Coalition (CSC) of Prince George’s County, that were not properly
documented.
Proctor wrote that CSC “shares in the responsibility of NHT’s
management of its project component” as one of the direct recipients of the
grant award for the Diamonds of Opportunity project.
While critical of NHT,
Proctor praised the work CSC was doing.
“According to our site visits …
your organization has proven very effective in its recent implementation of …
community-based projects. We would like to see more community driven initiatives
targeting the juvenile offender population in the neighborhoods that CSC is
currently serving.”
She went on to invite Lawlah to apply for other
grants.
Lawlah is the daughter-in-law of state Sen. Gloria G. Lawlah, a
Prince George’s County Democrat. Terry Lawlah objected yesterday to the
implication that the senator helped deliver funds for the program.
“She has
nothing to do with it, has never reaped any benefit,” Terry Lawlah said. “I’m
thinking of going back to my maiden name – literally.”
Benson noted that the
organization serves the central county – an area she represents. Lawlah, she
noted, serves a district in the south of the county.
More Top Picks Best Weightlifting Shoes For Women
“Gloria Lawlah doesn’t
play any role in this,” Benson stated. Benson said she founded the Safe Streets
program in response to the needs of residents of the Glen Arden Apartments and
surrounding areas affected by drug activity and other crimes.
Over the years, the group has sought state and federal grants for local
projects.
Benson said she was disappointed that the youth-based anti-
crime program funded by the grant, Diamonds of Opportunity, had
ended, adding that crime has rebounded in the area since it was
discontinued.
While Safe Streets officials acknowledged receiving subpoenas,
some of the other potential witnesses avoided the question or issued denials.
Greenfair Moses, founder of Quiet Fire Repertory Co., would not say whether he
had received a subpoena or been approached by federal agents. He said he had
been advised by a lawyer not to comment, but added that he agrees with
Townsend’s assessment of the investigation.
“Like she says, it’s just a bunch
of political garbage,” said Moses, an actor.
Moses said his nonprofit
received the $41,950 grant from the state and wrote paychecks to contractors who
hadn’t been paid on the Diamonds of Opportunity project. He said the request to
serve as an intermediary came from Branch and state officials.
“I just think
there was no hanky-panky,” Moses said.
Branch’s lawyer, Marcell Solomon, said
his client has not been subpoenaed and has not been contacted by government
agents. Solomon said he knew little more about the case than he had read in
newspapers.
“I don’t think there’s going to be any seriousness in this
thing,” he said. “I think the press has blown this up a little out of
proportion.
Sun staff writers Greg Garland, Howard Libit and David Nitkin
contributed
to this article.