U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced former Maryland State Senator Thomas L. Bromwell, Sr., 58, of Baltimore, Friday to seven years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for racketeering, conspiracy and filing a false tax return, announced U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

 The conviction relates to former-Senator Bromwell’s corrupt use of his official position and influence in exchange for payments and other benefits.  Judge Motz also sentenced Bromwell’s wife, Mary Patricia Bromwell, 44, to a year and a day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release for mail fraud arising from a related minority-contracting fraud scheme.  Judge Motz further ordered the Bromwells to forfeit over $2 million, including their interest in certain bank accounts and their Baltimore County residence.

 According to the stipulated statements of facts, Thomas Bromwell, Mary Patricia Bromwell, David Stoffregen, who was the president of the Poole and Kent Corporation (P&K), and others conspired to engage in a criminal money-making enterprise in which former-Senator Bromwell and Mary Patricia Bromwell accepted benefits from Stoffregen and others in exchange for Senator Bromwell using his official influence and position to intervene in business disputes on behalf of P&K.

 The benefits provided to the Bromwells included the following:   $192,923 paid to Mary Patricia Bromwell for a no-show job; construction work valued at more than $85,000 on the Bromwells’ home; the award of a $1.3 million contract to a company that paid Bromwell to bring in business; and free labor and materials provided to Thomas Bromwell’s construction company.

 In exchange for these benefits, then-Senator Bromwell used his influence in the following ways, among others: to help Stoffregen and P&K win a multi-million dollar bid over a competitor with a lower bid, and thereby earn a $1.8 million profit, on the construction of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) Weinberg Building in downtown Baltimore; to expedite monthly payments from the Maryland Comptroller’s Office to P&K for work performed on the Juvenile Justice Center project; and to intervene on P&K’s behalf in contract payment disputes relating to the UMMS and Juvenile Justice Center projects.

 The conspiracy further involved the use of a minority front company, Namco Services Corporation, to obtain construction contracts for P&K.  Stoffregen used the front company to disguise payments made to the Bromwells in the course of the conspiracy.  Mary Patricia Bromwell posed as an employee of Namco in order to deceive state inspectors.

 Thomas Bromwell also admitted that he had filed false tax returns in which he failed to report both personal and business income for the 2000 and 2001 years, and that he had made false statements to federal investigators.

 In this and related cases, Stoffregen, 54, of Towson, Maryland, pleaded guilty to the racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud and filing a false tax return and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 26, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.

 Geraldine Forti, 58, and Michael Forti, 59, both of Maryland, pleaded guilty on September 6, 2005 to filing a false tax return which failed to report income received from labor and services provided by P&K, Forti, Poole and Kent and Namco for the construction of the Fortis’ home.  Michael Forti also pleaded guilty to mail fraud in