Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges in federal court Thursday, publicly acknowledging wrongdoing related to her “Healthy Holly” book deals for the first time since The Baltimore Sun first began exposing them in March.
The plea came one day after federal prosecutors alleged in an 11-count indictment that Pugh’s self-publishing enterprise amounted to little more than a criminal racket. It comes eight months after The Sun’s revelations and subsequent raids on Pugh’s homes and City Hall by FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents torpedoed her political career and forced her from office.
Her acceptance of guilt, though on a narrower set of charges than her indictment laid out, could likely land Pugh, 69, in prison, though her sentencing has yet to be set.
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