D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown, the District's second-highest-ranking elected official, resigned last night after being charged with one count of federal bank fraud. Prosecutors say he falsified records in applications to obtain a home loan and to buy a $50,000 powerboat, inflating his income by "tens of thousands of dollars," the Washington Post reports.
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"Because of the great respect that I have for the institution that is the Council of the District of Columbia, I have chosen the only honorable course in submitting my resignation at this time," Brown wrote in a letter to the council secretary. "I simply will not hold this body, and its important work hostage to the resolution of my personal indiscretions." โฆ
Brown, dogged for months by an investigation into his personal finances and his 2008 campaign for a council seat, is scheduled to attend a plea hearing Friday before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon. Bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, but under federal sentencing guidelines, Brown will face far less potential punishment.
The disclosure of the charges set off a frenzy of activity at the District's John A. Wilson Building, including a hastily scheduled closed-door council meeting in Brown's office.
Brown, 41, submitted his resignation quietly, in a letter delivered privately. He refused to address a platoon of reporters as he left his council offices about 4 p.m.
Read more at the Washington Post.
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