Baltimore’s embattled mayor, Sheila Dixon, 56, has tendered her resignation, effective Feb. 4. The resignation is part of a sentencing she received for a guilty plea in a perjury case. Dixon will be sentenced on Jan. 21 for a recent jury conviction for embezzlement. The sentencing brings to a close a years-long corruption investigation of her administration.
Dixon’s sentencing for the perjury case will also include not being eligible to hold any city or state position for at least two years, two years of unsupervised probation and 500 hours of community service, along with payment of $45,000 to charity. She will be personally responsible for all attorneys’ fees incurred as part of the investigation.
If Dixon completes her probation, her criminal record will be expunged and it’s reported that she will be able to keep her $83,000 pension.
Dixon, elected to office in 2007, initially came under fire for her usage of gift cards intended for the poor to make personal purchases, which sparked a corruption probe of city hall. She has not apologized or admitted guilt, but says she leaves office “with great sadness,” adding that “there would come a time, after sentencing, that she could give her full side of the story.”
Dixon will be replaced by City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
–gerald radford
