A Cosmetic Procedure

The Maryland Supreme Court has accepted an attorney’s consent to disbarment

Upon consideration of the Joint Petition for Disbarment by Consent, filed by Bar Counsel on behalf of the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland and Respondent, Jamel R. Franklin, on December 19, 2024 in the above-captioned case, in which, pursuant to Rule 19-736(b), the parties jointly petition this Court to disbar Respondent and advise that Respondent agrees that his conduct as described in the petition violated Maryland Attorneys’ Rules of Professional Conduct Rules 8.4(a), (b), and (c) and that Respondent consents to disbarment as the appropriate sanction, it is this 23rd day of December 2024,

ORDERED, by the Supreme Court of Maryland, that the Joint Petition is GRANTED, and that, effective immediately, Respondent, Jamel R. Franklin, is disbarred from the practice of law in the State of Maryland for violation of Rule 8.4(a), (b), and (c) of the Maryland Attorneys’ Rules of Professional Conduct…

Maryland Matters reported

Former Prince George’s County Council Member Jamel “Mel” Franklin pleaded guilty Monday to perjury and a felony theft scheme over $100,000 for redirecting campaign funds to his personal use.

The plea, accepted Monday by Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Mark W. Crooks, formalizes a plea agreement Franklin signed May 30 — two weeks before he abruptly resigned from his at-large seat on the council and three weeks before the Maryland State Prosecutor’s Office unveiled the charges against him.

Council records show that Franklin continued to attend council meetings and committee meetings virtually, from May 30 through June 14, when he stepped down.

According to a statement from the State Prosecutor’s Office, Franklin admitted to directing $124,450 from the Friends of Mel Franklin campaign account to pay for personal loans, credit card debt, rent on his apartment and international travel. The expenses also included “over $11,500 on cosmetic procedures for him and a close personal friend” among other items, according to a statement of charges.

The prosecutor’s office said that beginning in 2021, Franklin directed an additional $8,718 in campaign funds to others, for personal credit card expenses, upkeep on his car, a deposit on international travel, hotel stays and cosmetic surgery for his friend, among othr [sic] expenses.

All the funds came from his campaign account between 2020 and December of last year.

In addition to the theft scheme, Franklin pleaded guilty to perjury for concealing the use of the campaign funds and falsifying information on campaign reports he signed and submitted to the state Board of Elections.

Court documents state Franklin established his campaign committee in 2009 to raise funds for his election to the council, and chaired the committee since its inception.

Franklin represented the county’s 9th District, which sprawls over most of South County, on the council from 2010 to 2018. When he was unable to seek reelection because of term limits, he ran for one of the county’s two at-large seats, representing the entire county, winning election in 2018 and reelection in 2022.

“Elected officials should be held accountable if they violate the public trust and exploit the Maryland electoral process for personal financial gain,” State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III said in a statement Monday. “I’m proud of our office’s hard work in uncovering this extensive fraud.”

According to the plea agreement, the theft scheme charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or $25,000 fine, while the perjury count has a maximum penalty of 10 years. Under the deal, the prosecutor’s office will recommend a sentence of five years for the theft scheme, with all but one year suspended and three years of supervised probation. The state will recommend a concurrent sentence for the perjury charge.

In addition to pleading guilty, the deal calls on Franklin to appoint a new treasurer for his campaign committee and to make restitution of $133,168.67 to the committee, with the money to be distributed to “a charitable organization of his choosing.”

The deal allows Franklin to argue for a lesser sentence when he appears for sentencing, which is scheduled for Nov. 13 in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.

Prince George’s County Council Chair Jolene Ivey (D) declined to comment Monday on the guilty plea.

Ivey, who currently represents the county’s 5th District, is one of two candidates who will vie this fall for Franklin’s vacant at-large seat, after a special primary election was held earlier this month.

According to official results posted Wednesday by the Prince George’s County Board of Elections, Ivey received 29,758 votes against a crowded field of nine Democratic candidates. Bowie Mayor Tim Adams came in second with 19,100 votes. The remaining seven candidates received a total of 13,754 votes.

Ivey would be heavily favored to win the seat in the deeply Democratic county against Republican Michael Riker, a retired police officer who received 1,238 of the total 2,750 votes. He faced three other Republican opponents in the special election.

The general election is Nov. 5.

(Mike Frisch)