The Prince George’s County administration building in Upper Marlboro. Prince George’s County photo.
The Maryland State Prosecutor charged former Prince George’s County Council Member Jamel “Mel” Franklin with multiple counts of a felony theft scheme, embezzlement and perjury Thursday, less than one week after Franklin abruptly resigned from the council.
In charging documents filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III said that over a period of several years, Franklin embezzled more than $133,000 from his campaign account, Friends of Mel Franklin, by writing checks and electronically transferring funds for noncampaign expenses. The money was reportedly used for everything from hotel stays to cosmetic procedures to oil changes on Franklin’s car.
Attempts to reach Franklin were unsuccessful Thursday.
Franklin first ran for office in 2009 and was elected to a council seat representing South County. He held that seat until 2018, when term limits forced him to run for an at-large seat, which we won. He was reelected in 2022.
Charging documents said that Franklin set up campaign bank accounts with the treasurer of his first campaign, who had shared control over the accounts. But when that treasurer left in late 2009 and a new treasurer started, the second treasurer “was never added as a signatory to the Friends of Mel Franklin account, and Franklin was the sole person with access to the account,” charging documents said.
The documents also said that Franklin, who chaired his own campaign committee, signed all campaign finance reports to the state after 2011, not his treasurer.
Mel Franklin. Photo courtesy of Prince George’s County.
From 2020 to 2023, the documents said, the then-council member embezzled $124,450.10 from the campaign account.
“Franklin used the funds from the campaign account to pay for, among other things, personal loans and credit card debt, his personal rent, personal subscriptions, and cosmetic procedures for him and a close friend,” according to a statement from Howard’s office.
The charges say that Franklin embezzled another $8,718.57 from the campaign account beginning in 2021. He allegedly sent the money to third-party entities to pay for his personal expenses – sending money to a close friend, funding personal hotel stays, purchasing cosmetic procedures for the close friend and paying for an international trip in 2024.
“Franklin also allegedly paid off his personal credit card and paid for the upkeep of his personal vehicle using funds from the campaign account,” the statement said.
The charging document alleges that Franklin did not report the expenses on his campaign finance report and instead “falsified” those reports. That led to 16 counts of perjury filed against Franklin for campaign reports from 2018 to 2023.
Franklin also faces two counts of embezzlement and two counts of a theft scheme, the first for amounts ranging from $1,500 to $25,000 and the second for amounts over $100,000.
Franklin abruptly resigned last week, but gave no reason for the resignation. He could not be reached for comment on the resignation at the time.
When the resignation was announced, Prince George’s County Council Administrator Jennifer A. Jenkins said in a statement that Franklin’s “presence will be greatly missed.”
“He’s authored numerous pieces of legislation that have significantly shaped Prince George’s County, and his knowledge and expertise have been invaluable in guiding the Council over many years,” Jenkins’ statement said.
But a county council spokesperson said Thursday that the council would have no comment on the charges against Franklin.
According to some Prince George’s County political insiders, potential candidates for Franklin’s seat in the upcoming special election include state Sen. Alonzo T. Washington, Prince George’s County Clerk of the Circuit Court Mahasin El Amin and Bowie Mayor Tim Adams, all Democrats. Franklin held an at-large seat, meaning the person who holds the seat can come from anywhere within the county.
The County Council is expected to set the timetable for the special election in the next few days.
– Maryland Matters reporter Josh Kurtz contributed to this report.
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