Councilwoman's former campaign manager charged with fraud
Councilwoman's former campaign manager accused of stealing $100,000 from her 2011 campaign.
Councilwoman's former campaign manager charged with fraud
BOB WARNER
John D. McDaniel, the former campaign manager for City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, was charged with wire fraud Wednesday for alleging stealing about $100,000 from Brown’s campaign.
The charges were filed by U. S. Attorney Zane David Memeger in an information.
After working on Brown’s 2011 reelection campaign, McDaniel was hired by the Nutter administration and put into an airport patronage job, but he was fired last week after the city Board of Ethics documented scores of irregularities in Brown’s campaign finance reports.
The use of an information to file the charges means that McDaniel waived his right to have the case presented to a grand jury. It is usually a sign that the defendant intends to plead guilty and, sometimes, to cooperate with prosecutors in pursuing other potential defendants.
It is not clear what that means for Brown, who has acknowledged using campaign funds to repay a $3,300 loan from Chaka “Chip” Fattah Jr., son of the Congressman by the same name, in December 2010, as well as putting $1,400 in campaign contributions into her personal account in May 2011.
The Councilwoman repaid $3,300 to her campaign account from personal funds last April 11 – about 16 months after the campaign’s payment to Fattah Jr., and after it became clear from newspaper stories that the feds were looking into Fattah Jr.’s financial affairs.
The committee’s payment to Fattah was disguised in campaign finance reports as a payment to a printing firm. Brown told The Inquirer this week that was McDaniel’s idea, that she had expected the payment to be listed as going to Fattah Jr., but she signed her campaign finance reports without ever checking how the payment had been described.
The charges against McDaniel, 39, are punishable by a maximum sentence of 30 years in jail and a $250,000 fine, according to the U. S. Attorney’s office.
Brown is not identified by name in the federal information, but it refers to McDaniel as the former campaign committee treasurer for a Philadelphia councilperson and alleges that he found several ways to steal money from the campaign: by withdrawing cash from ATM machines and bank counter withdrawals; writing and cashing checks to himself; and writing checks to another political committee he controlled, the Progressive Agenda PAC, and then taking money from Progressive Agenda.
McDaniel concealed the theft by filing false and incomplete campaign finance reports, the federal prosecutors alleged.
Calls to McDaniel and his attorney, Charles M. Gibbs, were not immediately returned.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U. S. Attorney Paul L. Gray is the prosecutor.
- Nah. As soon as McD gets out of the pen, Mikey will find him a job. Mikey will still be connected at that time.
— fightins4ever 
First impressions are lasting impressions.
So much for boosting tourism - the first impression a visitor gets is at the airport.
Philadelphia's airport has always been and still is an embarrassment to the city.
Patronage jobs - way to run an airport.
- Here is an idea: To ensure EVERYONE plays by the same rules and no aide is intentionally hired as a fall guy, start charging the politicians with the same crimes as the aides. This would be similar to RICO and conspiracy charges.— joemummer
Ol' Blondell is a pretty hot cougar...if she gets jailed that's some sweet booty for the girls...— The Monk- Something we can agree on! — UNIONJACK
- So at what point do people start calling out the mayor? How many times can he be connected to dirty people and situations before he is considered dirty himself? He always seems to shake that image. Maybe if the papers did their job people would see him for the joke that he is.— superturtle
- Now that he is fired, who is going to direct the volunteers at the Airport. Picture it, hundreds of volunteers roaming aimlessly from terminal to terminal with no 87,000 dollar patronage person to direct them. Volunteers who give upon themselves to answer questions (Pat's or Geno's) to newly arrived tourists. Oh, the horror!— tlee
- Who did she bribe to keep her name out of the federal report?— ena1977
- This comment has been deleted.— FishtownFitz
- While I think they should lock Reynolds-Brown away and throw away the key, your comment reeks of racism. It would be same thing as painting all Irish people as drunks.... right "Fitz"? — TheLowDown
- The very nature of a City Council job is corrupt. They run for office to serve people but then upon election assume the position of royalty. The remedy - term limits. 8 years and goodbye with only a modest pension - not like what they have today. These clowns, who I have interfaced with hundreds of times, are soo full of themselves its pathetic. And, thy're only a slip or two away from being crooks themselves. And you can start with old Blondie who this article is about - she should be tossed from office and prosecuted for campaign money fraud.— martycon
- What a Joke.... From top to bottom.— Bruddah
- Baltimore broke, Philly is next. Brothers and sisters running the city right into the ground. The lack of morals is astounding.— krautmef1
- Why doesn't Brown just resign and do us all a favor? Oh, wait, she can't. If she did, she'd have to go get a real job.— mike 1717
