CHICAGO — Milwaukee County Supervisor Johnny L. Thomas Jr. has suspended his campaign for Milwaukee city comptroller after criminal charges were filed against him late last week for accepting a bribe during a sting operation in exchange for advancing a financial advisory contract.
Milwaukee County district attorney John Chisholm filed two felony counts against Thomas on Thursday, including one count of accepting a bribe and one for misconduct in public office. Thomas, who is vying to take over the office that manages city borrowing, suspended his campaign after the charges were announced. His lawyer declared Thomas innocent.
“The DA has unfortunately taken unrelated events and forced an unreasonably negative and false story on top of the facts. As the process unfolds and all the facts come out, John will be vindicated and cleared of all charges,” said attorney Michael Maistelman.
The probe began last fall after Patrick Farley, a top aide to County Executive Chris Abele raised concerns with prosecutors over Thomas’ “interaction with vendors doing business with Milwaukee County,” according to the criminal complaint. As head of the county’s Finance and Audit Committee, Thomas held sway over many county contracts.
The concerns included Thomas’ refusal to advance a county contract for financial advisory services to Public Financial Management Inc., the top scorer in a competitive selection process, to work on general obligation and airport bond sales through 2013.
For months the item lingered in limbo, with Thomas refusing to put the item on the committee agenda. “Mr. Farley believed defendant Thomas was intentionally obstructing the contract,” the criminal complaint reads.
Prosecutors set up a sting with the help of Farley, the county’s director of administrative services, who called Thomas to talk about how the contract could be advanced. The conversation led to a meeting in which Farley allegedly gave Thomas an envelope with $500 in cash supposedly from PFM and he allegedly accepted it.
PFM said it was unaware that its contract was used as the subject of the sting operation until staff receiving calls from the press on Thursday. Chisholm made clear in a statement that the firm is not part of the probe. “PFM is a legitimate contractor who had already scored well in an independent bid process, and they are in no way connected to any alleged misconduct alleged in this complaint,” he said.
Farley told Thomas PFM did not want to directly contribute the money so it would not appear on campaign finance reports. Farley said another $500 would be donated to him by PFM at a fundraiser.
The next day Thomas added to his committee agenda an item awarding a three-year contract to PFM and Peralta Garcia Solutions, with an option to renew for three years, and it was approved on Dec. 8. “The contract was approved by unanimous vote and without question or comment,” reads the complaint.
Transcripts of the phone conversation and meeting were included in the criminal complaint.
PFM said in a statement: “As the district attorney has clearly indicated, PFM had no involvement whatsoever in the case against Supervisor Thomas. We are proud of the work we have done for the county and we are gratified that the recommendation of the selection committee that PFM be awarded this contract was based entirely on our merits. We look forward to continuing to provide excellent service to the citizens of Milwaukee County.”
At a news conference Friday, Chisholm defended his office’s decision to use the sting and believes the case will hold up against any effort to argue entrapment, according to published reports. “There is no reasonable explanation for taking $500 in cash under these circumstances, from the state’s perspective,” he said at a news conference.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of nine and a half years and $20,000 in fines. Prosecutors arrested Thomas on Dec. 12. He admitted taking the money but said he intended to return it. He was released pending the results of the ongoing investigation.
Thomas, 43, is running for city comptroller in the April race against Martin Matson, deputy director of the city’s Employees Retirement System. He is considered the frontrunner and has the endorsement of top local Democratic officials. The office was put up for grabs following longtime comptroller W. Martin “Wally” Morics’ decision to retire.
The comptroller sits on the city employees’ pension board; manages Milwaukee’s financial affairs, including debt management; establishes accounting policies for city departments; and manages cash flow, audits and financial analysis of projects. The comptroller also sits on several boards and is secretary to the city’s public debt commission.
