Barry Reported Back in Washington for Arraignment
WASHINGTON — Mayor Marion Barry, who is scheduled to be arraigned today in U.S. District Court on eight drug and perjury charges, reportedly returned to Washington Tuesday from a South Carolina substance abuse clinic.
Barry has been gone from the city since Jan. 22, when he entered a substance abuse clinic in Florida for what he claims is an alcohol problem. Last week, he transferred to the Fenwick Hall clinic near Charleston, S.C.
Barry’s spokeswoman, Lurma Rackley, said Tuesday she believes Barry will return to Fenwick Hall after the arraignment, at which he is expected to plead innocent to three felony perjury charges and five misdemeanor counts of cocaine possession.
WUSA-TV reported Tuesday that sources said Barry already was in Washington at an undisclosed location.
Barry was arrested on Jan. 18 for allegedly smoking crack cocaine. He was indicted Feb. 15 on the additional charges stemming from a grand jury investigation.
Barry’s attorney, R. Kenneth Mundy, has said he will seek a jury trial and that he expects the trial to take place in May.
If convicted of all the counts against him, the 53-year-old mayor could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined more than $1.2 million.
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