The Daily Blog

Jack Johnson pleads guilty, Laurel doctor named in related case.

Former Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson pleaded guilty May 17 in U.S. District Court, in Greenbelt, to witness and evidence tampering charges, and to being involved in an extortion conspiracy relating to his official duties as the county’s top official.

Johnson is facing up to 20 years on each count plus fines.

After Johnson’s hearing, the court unsealed records of several cases related to the former county executive’s corruption case, including that of Burtonsville resident Mirza Hussain Baig, 67, a physician and president of Laurel Lakes Primary Care; and owner of Laurel Ventures, a commercial residential development company that has operated in Prince George’s County since 1992.

According to the unsealed documents, Baig pleaded guilty on April 11 to conspiracy to commit extortion in connection with paying more than $120,000 in bribes to Jack Johnson and James Johnson — the county’s former housing director — for assistance on Baig’s housing projects in the county.

In court documents, Baig is named as the previously unnamed developer who provided Jack Johnson with a post-dated check for $100,000. Wire taps recorded Johnson and his wife, Leslie Johnson, deciding by phone to tear up the check and flush it down the toilet as FBI agents knocked on the door of their home the day they were arrested.

In November, Johnson and his wife, who is now a Prince George’s County Council member, were arrested at the couple’s Mitchellville home and charged with a slew of federal criminal charges, which the county executive said he was not guilty of and vowed to fight at the time of his arrest.

The charges involved the Johnson’s alleged involvement in a pay-to-play scheme in which developers provided money, gifts and other valuables, including campaign contributions, in return for the county executive’s assistance on development projects. At the time of her arrest, Leslie had nearly $80,000 in her bra.

“While Jack Johnson’s guilty plea today shines a bright light on the crimes he and his associates committed, it is not the end of the FBI’s investigation into corruption in Prince George’s County,” said Richard McFeely, the FBI special agent in charge.

In August of last year alone, federal officials said, Baig gave Johnson more than $70,000 in incremental payments. It was also in Baig’s Laurel office that FBI agents witnessed and recorded the former county executive accepting a check for $15,000 from Baig on the day of his arrest.

In addition, according to court documents, Baig sought Johnson’s assistance in securing $1.7 million in federal funds for a low-income housing project he was working on in the county.

“I’ll have Leslie to, ah, take care of things for you,” Johnson was recorded saying in reference to his wife.

Jack Johnson was also taped saying he would ask Baig for $500,000 for his assistance on that project. Court documents also revealed that Baig agreed to pay Johnson $50,000 for successfully getting a female physician hired at the county hospital.

Baig could face a maximum of five years in prison plus fines, and Leslie Johnson’s case is still pending.

‘Chronicles of Narnia’ Producer Perry Moore Found Dead in New York Apartment.

Perry Moore, the executive producer of the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ movie trilogy, was found dead in his SoHo apartment early Thursday morning, the NY Daily News is reporting.

The 39-year-old producer died after an apparent overdose of OxyContin, acccording to sources. However, an official ruling on his death has yet to be determined.

Moore, who was also a writer and a director, was found unconscious by his partner, Hunter Hill, and “prounounced dead shortly after responders arrive.”

According to the report, Moore’s death came as a shock to everyone, including his 69-year-old father, Bill Moore, who told the Daily News that he had spoken to him the night before and that his son “was in a great, great mood.”

Moore’s additional film credits include the 2008 Southern drama ‘Lake City,’ in which he co-wrote and directed with Hill. The film stars Oscar winner Sissy Spacek as a mother who reunites with her son years after a family tragedy drew them apart.

In 2007, Moore published the young-adult novel ‘Hero,’ about the world’s first teen gay superhero.

Jack Johnson, Prince George’s county executive, and his wife, Leslie, arrested.

Just after 10:12 a.m. Friday, Leslie Johnson frantically phoned her husband, Jack B. Johnson, the Prince George’s county executive.

Two FBI agents were at the front door of their two-story brick colonial in Mitchellville.

“Don’t answer it,” the county executive said, unaware that more agents were listening in.

Johnson ordered his wife to find and destroy a $100,000 check from a real estate developer that was hidden in a box of liquor.

“Do you want me to put it down the toilet?” Leslie Johnson asked.

“Yes, flush that,” the county executive said.

But what about the cash? she asked - $79,600.

Put it in your underwear, the county executive told his wife.

She replied, “I have it in my bra” - which is where agents discovered the money after she answered the door.

That conversation, as documented in an FBI affidavit, led to the arrest Friday of Jack Johnson and his wife. Each was charged with evidence tampering and destroying evidence in a case the U.S. attorney called the “tip of the iceberg” in a broader corruption investigation in Prince George’s.

“We don’t go on fishing expeditions,” U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said at a news conference. “We expect additional defendants and additional charges.”

Appearing Friday night outside the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Johnson vowed to fight.

Contract Employees: Should They Have to Pay for Their Own Thong?

Nine exotic dancers, employed as independent contractors, got a conditional okay from a federal judge to proceed with a class action lawsuit against the Penthouse Executive Club for alleged violations of federal and state labor laws.

That means that other women employed as contract workers by Penthouse Executive Club can join the lawsuit now that it’s been conditionally certified as class action. The defendant claims that since the women are independent contractors they are not protected by the traditional federal and state labor laws. Therefore, this case will be closely watched by other contract employees.

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The grievances by the strippers, reports the New York Post, include:

• Must pay for their own uniforms, that is, thongs
• Employer didn’t pay minimum wage or overtime and confiscated part of tips
• Employer charged dancers a house fee for dance shifts
• Employer deducted a 20 percent premium when dancers exchange the house tokens, which some customers used for tips, for cash.