Stuffing your underwear full of cash that your husband got as bribes does have consequences, after all. more ›

Former Prince George's County Chief Executive Jack Johnson was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $100,000 today. more ›

Look, if you haven't yet taken a couple of minutes to listen to the newly released recordings of former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson and his wife, former county councilmember Leslie Johnson, talking on the phone in the minutes before federal agents busted down their door and took them into custody on bribery-related charges, we're going to go ahead and recommend that you do that now. more ›

There's no shortage of ridiculously lax regulations for the District's politicians, that's for sure. But Prince George's County can be just as pointlessly lenient! more ›

Leslie Johnson, the wife of former Prince George's County executive Jack Johnson and a member on the county's legislative Council, is set to announce she'll resign from her position today. more ›

Sitting Prince George's County Councilwoman Leslie Johnson pled guilty this morning to charges stemming from her involvement in a federal corruption probe. Johnson admitted guilt on two charges of witness and evidence tampering. more ›

While we have a brief break between the breaking news regarding D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr.'s being sued for inappropriately spending city money and the upcoming testimony of Cherita Whiting and Sulaimon Brown, it feels appropriate to highlight the work done by Paul Schwartzman and Ovetta Wiggins in this long piece on the rise and fall of former Prince George's County executive Jack Johnson. more ›

Jack Johnson, who pled guilty to one count of extortion and one count of evidence tampering inside a U.S. District Court in Greenbelt this afternoon, is likely facing around 11 to 13 years in prison, according to media sources. more ›

During his arraignment in federal court this afternoon, former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson pled not guilty to eight criminal charges. Johnson's attorney, Billy Martin, entered the plea and also requested a jury trial. Johnson's wife and alleged co-conspirator Leslie Johnson was not in attendance at the arraignment. After entering his plea, Johnson told reporters that he was "extremely disappointed" and didn't "recognize the person" in the charges. Johnson also promised that he was "going to fight" for his reputation. more ›

Former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson will be arraigned in a federal court this afternoon, and is expected to enter a plea on eight counts of bribery, conspiracy and extortion. more ›

Last year was a rough one when it came to ethics in Prince George's County. After all, whenever the year is capped with the arrest of the County executive and his wife which led to several indictments on bribery and conspiracy charges, there are obviously some issues at play. If only there had been some kind of organization tasked with keeping ethical violations in the County in check! more ›

Jack Johnson, the former Prince George's County executive who taken into custody last November on charges of evidence tampering and the destruction and falsification of records, was officially indicted on eight counts of conspiracy, bribery and extortion today in federal court. more ›

WTOP reports this morning that a judge has ruled that former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson no longer needs to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. Johnson's attorney argued that the bracelet was causing Johnson problems in his search for a new job, stating in a motion that the monitoring hardware made meeting "with other individuals outside of his residence...increasingly difficult and sometimes impossible" for the former County Executive. (Well, yeah -- isn't that kind of the point?) U.S. Magistrate Judge William Connelly agreed, though, ruling that Johnson could shed the bracelet last Monday. Johnson and his wife, County Councilmember Leslie Johnson, are still awaiting trial on evidence tampering and destruction charges. more ›

Finally, the Jack Johnson scandal gets the animated Taiwanese treatment -- complete with a computer-generated depiction of Leslie Johnson stuffing cash down her shirt. You know, I've really got nothing to add here, other than to suggest that the feds should probably try and locate that door leading to "Access and Approval." Then, you know, they'd really be on to something. more ›

Two of the three police officers who were arrested this morning in connection to the Jack Johnson corruption probe have been identified. The Post reports that Sergeant Rich Delabrer and Corporal Chong Kim were taken into custody at their precinct, though the police station itself was not searched by federal agents. It has also been revealed that Delabrer had an off-duty job as a security guard at Tick Tock Liquors in Hyattsville. (Sure has been a rough month for liquor purveyors near the University of Maryland, hasn't it?) A third officer, taken into custody in Beltsville, has yet to be identified. more ›

Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson and his wife, County Councilmember Leslie Johnson, who were both arrested earlier today, have reportedly been charged with evidence tampering and the destruction and falsification of records this afternoon. WTOP quotes a source close to the U.S. Attorney's Office who claims that the charges stem from an investigation into a developer who had sought Johnson's involvement in a land deal near the Greenbelt Metro station. more ›

UPDATE: NBC4 reports that Johnson's wife has also been arrested. Charges on both have not yet been revealed. Not many details as of yet, but TBD is reporting that Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson was taken away in handcuffs today and arrested after federal agents executed search warrants at his home and county office. Johnson has reportedly been under investigation by an FBI corruption task force -- but the reason why wasn't immediately clear. Johnson had less than month remaining in his term as county executive -- Rushern L. Baker III will take his place in December. Obviously, more on this story as it comes to light. more ›

It seems like just yesterday we were scratching our heads and wondering what this mythical "v fest" creature we'd heard of could possibly be. A large-scale music festival that doesn't require a plane ticket? Our brain grapes were smashed at the thought! The first year (a one day event headlined by The Who and the Flaming Lips) went over well, and last year's bigger, better and greener approach was another notch in Richard Branson's belt. We already knew that this year's festivities would happen on August 9 and 10, once again returning to Pimlico racecourse in Baltimore. Now we've got the first signs of life: a list of headliners. more ›

Good morning, Washington. Chilly and rainy, huh? So that's how nature wants to play it? Fine. You know what? We're glad that Al Gore's stupid eco-concert series isn't coming to D.C. And that MTBE leak in Frederick? We were going to provide an environmentally-minded link, but now we're thinking better of it. Your free ride is over, Mother Nature! No more PageRank-boosting blog mentions until you cut this crap out. P.G. Hospital Set To... more ›

Good morning, Washington. Today's weather is likely to match Jerry Kilgore's mood: lousy. That's right, the results are in, and Virginia's new governor is Democrat Tim Kaine. Kaine beat Kilgore by six percentage points in the culmination of a brutally negative race that turned dirty, then got even dirtier. Frankly, we're glad it's over. The Post has complete election results for Virginia here; Maryland's results are here.

Group Surveils Day Laborers: The situation surrounding illegal immigrant workers in Herndon has just gotten more heated. The Post reports that members of the Minuteman Project — best known for their amateur efforts at policing the Mexican border — have begun videotaping and photographing workers and employers at the county's de-facto day laborer site. They say that they'll be turning over the evidence to the IRS, who they want to examine whether the transactions are being properly reported. Since most aren't, they expect that the effort will discourage the hiring of illegal immigrants, and thereby cause them to leave the day laborer site and/or county.

P.G. County Goes Smokefree: The Prince George's County Council has unanimously voted to ban smoking in the county's bars and restaurants. Most such businesses will be affected by the legislation, which, if signed by County Executive Jack Johnson, will go into effect on January first. Private clubs will be exempted from the ban; so will the cigar bar at Fedex Field.

Briefly Noted: 83% of Marylanders favor making English state's official language... Senate staffer attacked outside her home... Two men in custody after shooting near Cardozo High School... Police force former Redskin Dexter Manley to go to hospital...

Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user photogene

University of Maryland students in College Park are up in arms over a propoal to which would force liquor stores to close at 12 midnight seven nights a week. The stores are currently open until 2 or 2:30 a.m., according to WTOP. The change was proposed by Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson, who said that he would ask the General Assembly in Annapolis to institute the change as part of an effort to cut crime. The U. of Maryland student paper The Diamondback reports:

But city liquor store operators say after-midnight patrons are not dangerous and are lucrative customers. A manager at Town Hall Liquors, who wished not to give his full name, said his store sees steady business on Friday and Saturday between midnight and when he closes at 1:45 a.m. Aside from students, night-shift employees leaving The Washington Post plant and the university come in during those late hours to buy alcohol, he said.