Harford County Council President Patrick Vincenti (R) said the removal of Dion Guthrie from the council was automatic and required by the Maryland Constitution. Guthrie, through his lawyer, is threatening a legal challenge to keep his seat. File photo by Bryan. P. Sears.
The Harford County Council will proceed with efforts to fill the now-vacant seat of Councilmember Dion Guthrie (D), despite threatened legal action by Guthrie to retain his seat, the council president said.
Guthrie was automatically removed from office after entering a plea last week to one felony count of theft from the union he led for more than 50 years. Council President Patrick Vincenti (R) expressed sadness at the result, but said Guthrie’s removal was required by the Maryland Constitution.
“As council president, I am deeply disheartened by the actions of Mr. Guthrie,” Vincenti wrote in a statement, adding that he would hold the council “to the highest moral and ethical standards.”
“Mr. Guthrie’s threat to file suit against the Harford County Council has no basis as the Maryland State Constitution is very clear on this matter,” Vincenti’s statement said. He added that Guthrie’s calls for the council to fire its attorney are “not only preposterous and unwarranted, but outright unacceptable.”
The council could consider hiring an outside attorney as early as Tuesday night to represent it in the event Guthrie makes good on his threat. Tuesday’s is the first council meeting since Guthrie entered his plea and lost his seat.
Sources said Guthrie’s access to the office has been cut off and his equipment reclaimed by the county.
Guthrie, 86, was charged in October with one count of felony theft, accused of stealing more than $23,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1501 — a union he led for 52 years.
He entered a plea last week in Baltimore County Circuit Court of nolo contendere – which allows a defendant to maintain his innocence while acknowledging that the state had sufficient evidence for a conviction.
Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Robinson Jr. found Guthrie guilty. During sentencing, Robinson set the verdict aside and sentenced Guthrie to probation before judgment.
Guthrie paid more than $23,000 in restitution. In an interview and in court, he asserted his innocence, insisting that the union actually owed him $39,000 in uncompensated leave.
Hours after Guthrie left the courthouse in Towson on Thursday, he learned he had been removed from the council. Guthrie, however, insists the plea, which resulted in a sentence of probation before judgment, does not require him to forfeit his seat on the council.
“They have no jurisdiction. And this case is, this is all in Baltimore County. It has nothing to do with Harford County,” Guthrie said in an interview three weeks ago. “It’s all Baltimore County. It’s (the union) offices in Baltimore County. Their office is in Baltimore County. It’s the Baltimore County Department of Labor. So, I mean, that’s what I’m being told by my attorney. You know, what do I know?”
Guthrie did not respond to a request for comment this week.
In 2012, the Maryland General Assembly passed an amendment — approved later that year by voters — adding a provision to the law governing the removal of state and local officials.
The new provision automatically removes any elected official who enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to any felony charge or misdemeanor crimes related to the official’s public duties and responsibilities.
Previously, the constitution required a “final conviction, after judicial review or otherwise,” which left open a potential for some officials to remain in office pending appeals or sentences of probation before judgment, a sentence that effectively strikes the finding of guilt.
The language added a decade ago is triggered by a plea of guilty or nolo contendere. It is not affected by any sentence that follows, according to Harford County officials, who said they were acting on advice from the Office of the Attorney General.
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office declined to comment.
Several lawyers who spoke to Maryland Matters said they believe the provision is being properly applied. It is that old language on which Guthrie and his attorney, Domenic Iamele, rely.
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“Probation before judgment means that a person has not been convicted, even though a judge or jury may have found the defendant guilty before the verdict was stricken,” Iamele wrote in a letter to the council Friday. “My client entered his nolo contendere plea, which is not a guilty plea — it is a plea of “no contest” in which a defendant is treated by the court in the same manner as those who plead guilty.”
Iamele’s letter includes a threat to file a lawsuit if Guthrie is not reinstated.
“In Mr. Guthrie’s case the grant of the probation before judgment required the court to strike the conviction and further required Mr. Guthrie to affirmatively agree that there was no conviction to appeal,” Iamele wrote in his letter to the council. “The result was predicated on what was tantamount to a reversal of the conviction. Therefore, Mr. Guthrie should remain on the Harford County Council by operation of law.”
Iamele added that Guthrie “takes the position that yesterday’s [Thursday’s] hearing is not a conviction.”
In his letter, which is copied to Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly (R), Iamele argued that “the authority to suspend an elected councilman would lie within the purview of the Harford County Executive and/or by a resolution of the majority of the council.”
A spokesperson for Cassilly said the decision was “made solely by the county council. Questions should be addressed to Council President Vincenti.”
Vincenti, in his letter, said the Harford Democratic Central Committee was notified Friday of the vacancy. It has 60 days to “send a list of at least three names” to the council to replace Guthrie. The deadline to fill the vacancy is Jan. 13.
“The council has not received a list of names from the central committee but believes it will be forthcoming in the next few weeks,” Vicenti’s letter said.