Former Baltimore mayor gets 3-year prison sentence over children's book scheme

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published 27 February 2020

The former mayor of Baltimore has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Catherine Pugh received her prison sentence, plus three years of supervised release, on Thursday after last year pleading guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges over a scheme involving her children's books, The Associated Press reports.

Pugh was hit with charges last November after prosecutors said she made deals to distribute copies of her "Healthy Holly" children's books to companies with ties to the city, only for many of the books to never end up being distributed to be children, The New York Times reports. An indictment said she "promised a certain number of books at a given price, then kept the money and did not provide the books as promised," with prosecutors saying she used the money to fund her political campaigns and to buy and renovate a house. Some of the books, prosecutors said, were discovered in a Baltimore City Public School System warehouse, while some books were not even printed. Some were also sold twice to different buyers, according to the indictment.

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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