BALTIMORE, Md. – A Baltimore County man pled guilty in federal court today to bribing a Baltimore City official. James Carroll Erny, Jr., 55, of Glen Arm, Maryland, who is charged with bribery, admitted to paying at least $25,000 in bribes to Joseph Gillespie, a former Baltimore City Department of Finance employee. In exchange, Gillespie extinguished various financial obligations Erny owed to the City of Baltimore. As a result of the criminal conduct, the City of Baltimore suffered financial losses of more than $145,000.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Braithwaite, Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG), Eastern Region; and Chief Robert McCullough, Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD).
According to the plea agreement, beginning in December 2019, and continuing until August 2023, Erny engaged in a bribery scheme in which Gillespie abused his position of trust as a public official for his own personal gain. During this period, Erny — who owned at least eight properties in Baltimore City — routinely paid bribes in exchange for Gillespie delaying, removing, or extinguishing financial obligations owed to the City. This included unpaid citations, tax obligations, and water obligations, thereby causing losses to the City…