Baltimore, Maryland - A Baltimore County man pled guilty in federal court today to bribing a Baltimore City official.

James Carroll Erny, Jr., 55, of Glen Arm, Maryland, who is charged with bribery, admitted to paying at least $25,000 in bribes to Joseph Gillespie, a former Baltimore City Department of Finance employee. In exchange, Gillespie extinguished various financial obligations Erny owed to the City of Baltimore. As a result of the criminal conduct, the City of Baltimore suffered financial losses of more than $145,000.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Braithwaite, Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG), Eastern Region; and Chief Robert McCullough, Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD).

According to the plea agreement, beginning in December 2019, and continuing until August 2023, Erny engaged in a bribery scheme in which Gillespie abused his position of trust as a public official for his own personal gain. During this period, Erny - who owned at least eight properties in Baltimore City - routinely paid bribes in exchange for Gillespie delaying, removing, or extinguishing financial obligations owed to the City. This included unpaid citations, tax obligations, and water obligations, thereby causing losses to the City.

Erny primarily paid these bribes by cash, providing Gillespie with envelopes containing as much as $1,000 each while the former City employee worked at the Abel Wolman Municipal Building. Sometimes, Erny met Gillespie in a men's bathroom in the City-owned building to give him envelopes containing cash bribes. Erny also routinely provided Gillespie bribe payments via Cash App and Zelle.

Additionally, Erny admitted to engaging in a separate scheme to obtain fraudulent COVID-19 relief loans under both the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Ultimately, Erny fraudulently obtained $996,240 in fraudulent PPP funds as part of the scheme, and he attempted to obtain more than a $100,000 worth of EIDL funds.

Erny faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for bribery. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett scheduled sentencing for Tuesday, June 9, at 11 a.m. In February 2025, Judge Bennett sentenced Gillespie to four years in prison in connection with the wire-fraud conspiracy.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI, SBA-OIG, and BCPD for their work in the investigation. U.S. Attorney Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Delaney and Joseph Wenner who are prosecuting the case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office, its priorities, and resources available to report fraud, please visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.

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