Mayor Barry Indicted on Drug Possession, Perjury Charges : Narcotics: He accuses the Justice Department of staging a ‘political lynching.’ The legal action splits his political base.
WASHINGTON — Marion Barry, the beleaguered mayor of the District of Columbia, was indicted Thursday on three felony counts of lying to a federal grand jury about his involvement in cocaine transactions and five misdemeanor charges of cocaine possession.
The charges against Barry, who has been undergoing treatment for substance abuse in a Florida facility since his Jan. 18 arrest in an FBI sting operation, further cloud the mayor’s controversial political career.
The son of Mississippi sharecroppers and a rising figure in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Barry was credited with providing strong leadership for the District of Columbia before a series of scandals undermined confidence in his Administration.
The widely anticipated indictment has caused a significant split in Barry’s political base, with two longstanding and powerful supporters saying that the charges would add momentum to a movement to draft Rep. Walter E. Fauntroy (D-D.C.) to run for mayor.
From his isolation at the Florida alcohol and drug center, Barry accused the Justice Department of staging a “political lynching†and declared that he would not resign from the office he has held for nearly a dozen years.
R. Kenneth Mundy, Barry’s lawyer, said his client would plead innocent to the eight charges, which carry maximum punishment of 20 years imprisonment and $1.25 million in fines.
Under federal rules, Barry must be arraigned on the charges within 14 days, but sources close to the mayor have indicated that he will extend his treatment in Florida and probably will seek a delay in the arraignment.
In announcing the indictment on the stairs of the federal courthouse, U.S. Atty. Jay B. Stephens turned aside all questions--in contrast to his wide-ranging comments last month when he hinted that Barry could receive favorable consideration if he resigned as mayor.
Stephens’ press release said the indictment resulted from “an ongoing investigation of public corruption and illegal narcotics activity.†Other government sources said the characterization signaled that additional charges are possible.
Jesse Jackson, who recently moved to Washington and is the subject of speculation over whether he will enter the mayor’s race, expressed “regret†at the news of the indictment. “We continue to pray for our city, the mayor’s health, and for the well-being of his family,†he said.
Jackson, who is winding up a two-week visit to southern Africa, made his comments in a statement from Lusaka, Zambia. He urged that Barry “not be tried in the public or by the press,†declaring: “The matter is now before the court, and that’s where it should remain.â€
The investigation and indictment of one of the nation’s most prominent black politicians appeared to follow a standard police strategy of charging a lesser figure with a crime and then gaining his cooperation to gather evidence against a prominent public official.
In this case, the indictment charged that Barry gave three false statements under oath before a federal grand jury on Jan. 19, 1989. In his testimony, Barry denied he was aware that Charles Lewis, a friend and former district employee, was involved with drugs, that Lewis had given him cocaine and that he had given cocaine to Lewis, according to the indictment.
The cocaine transactions allegedly took place inside a Ramada Inn in downtown Washington a month earlier. District of Columbia police went to the Ramada on Dec. 22, 1988, to investigate a maid’s complaint that Lewis had tried to give her cocaine. But the detectives stopped short of entering Lewis’ room when they learned Barry was with Lewis, and that incident led to the broadened investigation.
Lewis subsequently was arrested and convicted in the Virgin Islands on charges of selling crack to an undercover FBI agent. He was charged with lying to the grand jury and conspiring to possess and distribute cocaine.
Lewis then began to cooperate with the grand jury investigation of Barry, pleaded guilty to two charges and drew a 15-month prison sentence.
In addition to the false statement felony counts, Barry was charged with five misdemeanor counts of cocaine possession--four of them in December, 1988, and the other resulting from the FBI sting operation last Jan. 18.
In that incident, Barry allegedly responded to the invitation of a longtime friend, Rasheeda Moore, to visit her at the Vista International Hotel and was videotaped by FBI agents smoking crack in Moore’s room.
Moore, a District of Columbia native who now lives in Burbank, Calif., was secretly cooperating with the FBI, and Barry was arrested on cocaine possession charges. Blood and urine tests confirmed that the mayor had ingested cocaine, and a hair test to determine longer-term drug use reportedly found evidence of marijuana use.
Barry, in the statement issued by his office, said:
“Today’s indictment does not surprise me at all because it represents a continuation of the political lynching and excesses of the Justice Department in this multiyear, multimillion-dollar effort to investigate me and the Barry Administration.â€
Barry said he would continue treatment, adding that “I want to assure the residents of Washington, D.C., that I am not considering resignation.â€
In his statement, Barry reiterated his contention that he is being treated for alcohol abuse and acknowledged no problems with drugs.
He described the Florida substance abuse clinic only as an “alcohol rehabilitation center†and noted that the disease of alcoholism afflicts “millions of Americans.â€
MAYOR CALLING SHOTS
Marion Barry has been running Washington by phone from a treatment center. E1
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