GREENBELT – Richard Stewart, disgraced advisor, appointee, campaign leader, close friend of Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley, and former member of the Governor's Redistricting Advisory Committee was able to postpone his potential jail sentence until June 1, 2012 at 11:00 am in the Courtroom of Judge Roger W. Titus in Greenbelt, Maryland [(301) 344-0660].
Stewart was the only civilian appointment to the Governor's Redistricting Advisory Committee and also served on the Maryland Stadium Authority, another high profile appointment.
According to the Department of Justice, “From 2003 through at least 2008, Stewart did not collect, truthfully account for and pay over approximately $3,969,337 of Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes and federal income tax withholdings, commonly known as trust fund taxes, from his employees' wages.” Stewart, who pled guilty to the charges, faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
David Ferguson, Executive Director of the Maryland Republican Party, expressed his frustration by saying, "Governor O'Malley has once again failed the hard working taxpayers of Maryland. This unapologetic friendship is the worst case of gross negligence in state history. While he was out raising money to support his blind political ambitions, he was letting the fox run the hen house on the most crooked maps in America. This administration can't sustain another failure if Martin O'Malley wants to be President."
Ferguson concluded, "This is Governor O'Malley's most important appointment and it only comes around every ten years. The deal that was struck is almost as crooked as the maps that we are currently taking to referendum."
In a recent poll by Megellan Strategies, almost two-thirds of Marylanders rejected the "O'Malley-Stewart maps." According to Marylanders for Coherent & Fair Representation (MCFR), 62% agree that counties and communities of interest should be kept intact as much as possible when drawing Congressional districts. Only 17 percent disagreed.
The Maryland Republican Party has asked the Democratic Party and their elected officials to empty their campaign accounts of Richard Stewart's $75,000 in political contributions. So far, Governor Martin O'Malley, Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown, and Congressman Elijah Cummings have all complied with the request.
