FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1995 (202) 514-2008
TDD (202) 514-1888
FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN MARY ROSE OAKAR AND FORMER OAKAR CAMPAIGN
AIDE ARE INDICTED; SECOND FORMER OAKAR CAMPAIGN AIDE IS CHARGED, AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice announced
today that a former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives,
Mary Rose Oakar, of Cleveland, Ohio, has been charged with seven
federal felonies in an indictment returned today in U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia.
The same indictment also charges a former aide in Oakar's
1992 Congressional reelection campaign and nephew of Oakar,
Joseph DeMio, with one federal felony. In addition, Justice
Department announced that another former aide in Oakar's 1992
campaign and nephew of Oakar, Ignatius J. DeMio, has been charged
with one federal misdemeanor in an information filed today in the
U.S. Court for the District of Columbia, and that Ignatius J.
DeMio has agreed to plead guilty to the charge.
Count one of the indictment charges Oakar, 54, with
violating the federal statute prohibiting conversion of public
moneys, 18 U.S.C. 641. This count involves Oakar's negotiation
in 1991 of a $16,000 insufficient funds check, drawn on her
account at the former banking facility of the House Sergeant at
Arms Office
(commonly known as the "House Bank"), at the Wright Patman
Congressional Federal Credit Union in Washington, D.C.
Count two of the indictment charges Oakar with violating the
federal statute on false statements within the jurisdiction of a
federal department or agency, 18 U.S.C. 1001. This count
involves Oakar's failure to list on her 1991 Financial Disclosure
Statement a $50,000 loan which she used in part to pay the
settlement charges on a Georgetown townhouse she purchased in
1991.
Count three of the indictment charges Oakar with violating
the federal false statements statute, 18 U.S.C. 1001. This
count involves Oakar's making false statements to the FBI in
October, 1992, concerning three stop-payment orders, relating to
her House Bank account, which she stated had been made and
delivered to the House Bank.
Count four of the indictment charges Oakar and Joseph DeMio,
31, with violating the conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. 371. This
count involves a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election
Commission (FEC), and to make false statements to the FEC,
relating to Oakar's 1992 Congressional reelection campaign.
Counts five and six of the indictment charge Oakar with violating
the federal false statements statute, 18 U.S.C. 1001. These
counts involve two reports by Oakar's campaign committee,
concerning contributions and expenditures to Oakar's 1992
reelection campaign, which were made pursuant to the Federal
Election Campaign Act.
Count seven of the indictment charges Oakar with violating
the federal false statements statute, 18 U.S.C. 1001. This
count involves Oakar's submission of a letter, dated May 11,
1992, to the FBI in December, 1994.
The sole count of the information charges Ignatius J. DeMio,
29, with violating the conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. 371. This
count involves Ignatius J. DeMio's conspiring to violate the
Federal Election Campaign Act in connection with Oakar's 1992
Congressional reelection campaign.
Oakar faces a maximum penalty, under the seven counts of the
indictment, of 40 years' imprisonment and a $1,750,000 fine.
Joseph DeMio faces a maximum penalty, under the conspiracy count
of the indictment, of five years' imprisonment and a $250,000
fine. Ignatius DeMio faces a maximum penalty, under the
information, of one year's imprisonment and a $100,000 fine.
The indictment, the information, and the plea agreement stem
from the Department of Justice's ongoing investigation of the
House Bank. This case is being handled by attorneys assigned to
the House Bank Task Force, Criminal Division, composed of an
Assistant U.S. Attorney from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a
Senior Litigation Counsel from the Fraud Section of the Criminal
Division, a Senior Counsel in the Criminal Division, and Special
Agents of the FBI. The task force was formed in December, 1992,
to continue the work of the preliminary inquiry into the House
Bank that Malcolm R. Wilkey, retired Judge Wilkey for the
District of Columbia Circuit, conducted as a Special Counsel to
the Attorney General in 1992.
The indictment of Oakar and Joseph DeMio represent the first
indictment obtained by the House Bank Task Force, and the
indictment and information represent the sixth and seventh
charges brought by the Task Force. Former Congressman Carroll
Hubbard, Jr., of Kentucky, pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud
the FEC, theft of government property, and obstruction of
justice, and is currently serving a three-year term of
imprisonment. Carol Brown Hubbard, the wife of former
Congressman Hubbard, pled guilty to taking property without right
and was sentenced to five years probation. Former Sergeant At
Arms of the House of Rep1resentatives, Jack Russ, pled guilty to
conversion of government funds, wire fraud, and filing false
financial reports, and is currently serving a two-year term of
imprisonment. Former Congressman Carl C. Perkins, also of
Kentucky, pled guilty to bank fraud, conspiracy to file false
statements with the FEC, and filing a false financial disclosure
form, and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 13, 1995. Martha
Amburgey, Perkins's secretary, pled guilty to aiding and abetting
bank fraud, and conspiracy to file false statements with the FEC,
and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 14, 1995.
The investigation by the House Bank Task Force is
continuing.
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95-102