Remember former Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh? She’s the one who wrote children’s books so she could turn around and sell them to the University of Maryland Medical System, where she sat on the board, for a tidy profit.

Well, once that scandal broke, along with allegations of money laundering through a consignment store that Pugh was co-owner of, she resigned and eventually pled guilty in November to conspiracy and tax fraud.

Considering the extent of her crimes – including lying to the FBI’s face when they raided her home…

Baltimore's former mayor Catherine Pugh upon being served a warrant for her cell phone and telling agents she didn't have it pic.twitter.com/379mCPds5y

— Political Capital (@PolitcalCapitaI) February 14, 2020

… the federal prosecutors would like a sentence of five years, and they laid out their evidence on the table yesterday.

The blistering, 37-page sentencing memorandum, accompanied by financial records and copies of checks, for the first time pinpointed the number of “Healthy Holly” children’s books Pugh sold — and re-sold. It outlined her efforts to conceal her dealings, including lying to FBI agents who came to her house to seize her cellphone.”

“The chronology of events since 2011, comprising Pugh’s seven-year scheme to defraud, multiple years of tax evasion, election fraud, and attempted cover-ups, including brazen lies to the public, clearly establishes the deliberateness with which she pursued financial and political gain without a second thought about how it was harming the public’s trust,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin J. Clarke and Leo J. Wise.”

“It was not rash behavior,” they wrote. “Rather, it was a recurring pattern of well-executed steps that built on each other, becoming more audacious and complex leading up to the mayoral election.”

Well, Pugh’s lawyers are trying to play the sympathy card for the 69-year-old former mayor, asking for only a year and a day in prison.

In documents filed with the court Friday morning, Pugh’s attorneys argued that a long sentence would prevent her from rebuilding her life after being released.”

“Ms. Pugh has suffered and continues to suffer in an immense and extraordinary way,” the defense’s sentencing memorandum said. “Simply locking her up for a period of time prescribed by the Sentencing Guidelines would not promote the overall goals of federal sentencing.”

Her lawyers also have the nerve to point out that the “Healthy Holly” books are an example of how good a person Pugh actually is because she cares about children’s health. Spare me. Pugh cannot have this both ways. She scammed the UMMS out of huge amounts of cash for her lousy children’s books (for which she also scammed the illustrator into working for FREE), and now she wants to mitigate her sentence because her scam is actually a sign that she CARES about children’s health? That legal team truly is stretching for anything they can find to let this woman off the hook.

Catherine Pugh will be sentenced on February 27th, and I seriously hope she gets the book thrown at her. But Baltimore, you have some other serious problems. Pugh’s predecessor as mayor, Sheila Dixon, was also forced to resign due to an Alford plea over embezzlement charges, and managed to walk away with only probation. In light of all the Catherine Pugh scandals, Sheila Dixon decided back in December that she should definitely run for mayor again.

Baltimore, do you have anyone who doesn’t have a criminal record and isn’t corrupt that could possibly run for mayor, or is this it? The primary looks crowded – is there one honest person in there that actually gives a damn about the state of the city?

Featured image via Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license