Michael A. Brown (Washington D.C. politician)
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Michael Arrington Brown (born March 4, 1965) is an American politician in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
In 2008, he was elected an at-large member of the
Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state ...
, and he served one four-year term. Brown lived in
Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
. He served a prison sentence for bribery from 2014 to 2016.DeBonis, Mike
Brown Officially Enters At-Large Race
''Washington City Paper''. 2008-04-29.
His father was
Ron Brown Ronald Harmon Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President of the United States, President Bill Clinton. Prior to this he was chairm ...
, a former
United States Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
.


Early life

Brown was born in
Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
,
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, while his father was stationed there for the Army. He moved to the District of Columbia at age six. He graduated from Mackin Catholic High School in Washington, then received a Bachelor of Science degree from
Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...
in 1987. He received a
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
degree from
Widener University School of Law Widener University Delaware Law School (Delaware Law School and formerly Widener University School of Law) is a private law school in Wilmington, Delaware. It is one of two separate ABA-accredited law schools of Widener University. Widener Un ...
in 1991, but he did not pass the bar. In 1993, he served as political director of America's Fund, a fund-raising network for political candidates of color. In 1997, Brown pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of making a contribution to the 1994 reelection campaign of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy that exceeded the $2,000 limit. He was required to perform 150 hours of community service and pay $7,818 to cover the cost of supervised probation. Brown considered running for mayor of the District of Columbia in 1998, but he ultimately decided against it, saying his mother was adamantly against it. At the time, he was a lobbyist for
Patton Boggs Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with 42 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C. based Patton Boggs. It is one of the 30 largest law firms in the ...
and president and chief executive of the Ronald H. Brown Foundation. From 1996 to 2005, Brown was vice chairman of the District of Columbia Boxing and Wrestling Commission. His efforts to bring a Mike Tyson-Lenox Lewis boxing match to the District were ultimately unsuccessful. In 2005, Brown's wages were garnished by a court for defaulting on payments on a lease of an
MCI Center Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. It has been largely considered to be a commercial success an ...
suite. At the time, Brown was a managing partner for the lobbying firm of Alcalde & Fay.


2006 mayoral candidacy

In September 2005, Brown announced the beginning of his campaign for mayor of the District of Columbia. Brown polled at 3 percent in August 2006 and was considered a long shot at best to become mayor in the election held that year. In an interview, his sister remembered that, at age 9, Brown had expressed his dream to be mayor someday. After consistently trailing the pack of mayoral candidates, Brown dropped out of the race September 7 and announced his support for another candidate, council chair
Linda W. Cropp Linda Washington Cropp (born October 5, 1947) is an American politician from Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. She was a Democratic member of the Council of the District of Columbia, where she was the first woman to serve as the ...
, saying "I cannot watch a political novice, a man without the courage and strength required to run the city, attempt to steal this race from someone who has seen the city through its worse times." Federal prosecutors later said that Jeff Thompson paid Brown $350,000 to drop out of the race and endorse Cropp. Cropp lost to
Adrian Fenty Adrian Malik Fenty (born December 6, 1970) is an American politician who served as the sixth mayor of the District of Columbia. He served one term, from 2007 to 2011, losing his bid for reelection at the primary level to Democrat Vincent C. Gra ...
57 to 31 percent in the Democratic primary five days later.


2007 council candidacy

Brown ran to represent Ward 4 on the
Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state ...
. The seat was vacated by
Adrian Fenty Adrian Malik Fenty (born December 6, 1970) is an American politician who served as the sixth mayor of the District of Columbia. He served one term, from 2007 to 2011, losing his bid for reelection at the primary level to Democrat Vincent C. Gra ...
when he became mayor. Brown lost the May 1 special election in a field of 19 candidates to
Muriel Bowser Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician serving since 2015 as the eighth mayor of the District of Columbia. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council ...
after she received the mayor's endorsement, receiving 27 percent of the vote to Bowser's 40. Brown later admitted that he accepted a $20,000 illegal donation from Jeff Thompson during this campaign.


Results

As certified by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics:


2008 council candidacy

In 2008, Brown ran for a seat as an
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...
member of the council.DeBonis, Mike
Finally! Schwartz Announces Re-Election Bid
''Washington City Paper''. 2008-06-09.
Unlike Brown's previous candidacies when he ran as a
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
, Brown ran as an
independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...
. District law allows only three of the five at-large Council seats, including chair, to be affiliated with the same political party. Chair Vincent Gray and
Phil Mendelson Philip Heath Mendelson (born November 8, 1952) is an American politician from Washington, D.C. He is currently Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, elected by the Council on June 13, 2012, following the resignation of Kwame R. Br ...
, both Democrats, were not up for reelection in 2008, so only one of the seats up for reelection could be won by a Democrat. Democratic incumbent
Kwame R. Brown Kwame R. Brown (born October 13, 1970) is an American politician in Washington, D.C., who was an at-large member of the council from 2005 to 2011 and chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2011 until his resignation in June 2012 ...
was running for reelection and was likely to win, which made it nearly assured that the other seat up for election would go to a non-Democrat. Brown later admitted to accepting an illegal $125,000 donation from Jeff Thompson during this campaign.


Results

As certified by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics:


2012 council candidacy

In 2012, Brown ran for reelection as an
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...
member of the council. During the campaign, ''The Washington Post'' reported that Brown had received five notices of foreclosure on his house in
Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Several settlements in th ...
between 1996 and 2010. It was also reported that Brown was delinquent in paying property taxes on his house in January 2011. In April 2011, the Internal Revenue Service filed a lien against Brown for nonpayment of over $50,000 of income taxes between 2004 and 2008. In July 2012, Brown announced that there had been large unauthorized expenditures. Brown fired his campaign's treasurer, who was indicted for the crime in March 2014. Two months later, Brown said that over $110,000 was missing from his campaign's bank account, and he apologized to his supporters and contributors. An audit by the Office of Campaign Finance found $126,000 of unreported expenditures and $8,446 in unreported contributions. Between 2005 and 2010, Brown's driver's license had been suspended several times due to unpaid traffic citations and moving violations. Independent candidate
David Grosso David Grosso (born September 18, 1970) is an American attorney and politician. He is a former at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia who lives in Brookland. A native Washingtonian, he graduated from Earlham College and Georget ...
defeated Brown. Grosso received more votes than Brown in wards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, while Brown received more votes than Grosso in wards 5, 7, and 8.


Results

Unofficial results from ''The Washington Post'':


2013 council candidacy

Brown was one of seven candidates running for an
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...
seat on the council in a special election held on April 23, 2013. He dropped out of the campaign on April 2, too late to remove his name from the ballot. Brown received two percent of the vote;
Anita Bonds Anita Bonds (born 1945) is an American Democratic politician in Washington, D.C. She is an at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia. She served as the Chair of the District of Columbia Democratic Party from 2006 to 2018. She ...
won the election with 31 percent of the vote.


Federal prosecution and conviction

On June 7, 2013, federal prosecutors charged Brown with bribery. Between July 2012 and February 2013, then-Councilmember Brown allegedly sought and accepted $55,000 in cash from representatives of a business to help the business receive contracts and preferential government certification. The representatives were actually undercover employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Brown described it as a "loan arrangement", not a bribe. The charge was issued with a document that usually indicates that there has been a plea deal. Federal prosecutors sought a $35,000 judgement against Brown. In February 2014, federal prosecutors said that Jeffrey E. Thompson illegally paid $100,000 of Brown's campaign's bills, to which Brown admitted. Brown also admitted to accepting a $20,000 illegal donation from Thompson during his 2007 campaign and an illegal $125,000 donation from Thompson during his 2008 campaign. Brown was also accused of accepting a bribe from Thompson to drop out of the 2006 election for mayor. Brown pleaded guilty to the charge of accepting a bribe from the undercover agents. As part of the plea deal, he did not face charges on accepting bribes and illegal contributions in 2006, 2007, and 2008, allowing him to avoid the minimum 15-year sentence he could have received had he been convicted by a jury. Prosecutors asked for Brown to be sentenced to 43 months in prison at his sentencing hearing on May 8, 2014. Brown's defense attorneys requested that Brown be sentenced to less than 37 months, less than the minimum sentence under federal guidelines. On May 29, 2014, Brown was sentenced to 39 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and 200 hours of community service. Brown's attorney said that Brown would not run for public office again.


Incarceration

Brown was incarcerated at
Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery The Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery (FPC Montgomery) is a minimum-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Montgomery, Alabama. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice ...
, a minimum security prison in Alabama. Brown was originally scheduled to be released in May 2017, but he was released from prison to a
halfway house A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...
in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
in 2016.Heil, Emily.
Former city councilman Michael Brown is out of prison for bribery, and he wants to get married
. ''The Washington Post''. May 15, 2017.
In February 2017, Brown moved to home confinement at the home of his fiancée, Jessica Herrera-Nunez.


Committees

*Special Committee on Statehood and Self-Determination - Chairperson *Finance and Revenue *Housing and Workforce Development - Chairperson *Aging and Community Affairs *Human Services *Public Services and Consumer Affairs


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Michael A. American politicians convicted of bribery Living people Members of the Council of the District of Columbia 1965 births Washington, D.C., Democrats Washington, D.C., Independents Clark University alumni Widener University alumni Washington, D.C., politicians convicted of crimes Archbishop Carroll High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni