Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury has indicted Maryland State Senator Nathaniel Thomas Oaks, age 70, of Baltimore, Maryland, with wire fraud, honest services wire fraud, and violations of the Travel Act for allegedly accepting illegal payments in exchange for using his official position or influence to benefit an individual on business-related matters. The indictment was returned on May 31, 2017.
The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint filed previously, and the nine-count indictment returned on May 31, 2017, Oaks was a Maryland State Delegate representing District 41 (Baltimore City) from 1994 until being appointed to the Maryland Senate in February 2017, representing the same District.
The affidavit alleges that on Sept. 21, 2015, a cooperating individual (the Cooperator) introduced Oaks to an FBI confidential human source (the CHS) who portrayed himself as an out-of-town businessperson interested in obtaining contracts in the City of Baltimore through a minority-owned business (the Company). The Company is a real business that is operated by a different cooperating defendant who is assisting the FBI with the investigation. The meeting took place at a restaurant in Pikesville, Maryland, and was consensually recorded by the Cooperator and the CHS. During the meeting, Oaks offered to assist the CHS with business development in Maryland.
During the months following the Sept. 21, 2015 meeting between the CHS and Oaks, the CHS consensually recorded numerous telephone and in-person conversations with Oaks during which they discussed possible development and business-related opportunities that may be available to the CHS in Maryland. One such opportunity was a United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) project (the Project) that the CHS told Oaks that he was interested in developing in the City. Oaks told the CHS that he wanted to help with the HUD project.
According to the indictment, between the months of April 2016 and July 2016, Oaks issued two letters on his official House of Delegates letterhead to a person whom he believed to be a HUD official which contained materially false and fraudulent representations in order to assist the CHS in obtaining federal grant funds from HUD. The CHS paid Oaks $10,300 for his assistance.
Further, the indictment alleges that on Sept. 22, 2016, the CHS paid Oaks $5,000 in exchange for Oaks’ agreement to file a bond bill request with the Maryland Department of Legislative Services (DLS) seeking $250,000 in state funds for the Project. Oaks filed the bill request with DLS later that day. On Nov. 21, 2016, Oaks forwarded an email to the CHS that had been sent to him by DLS. The email attached the draft of the bill to establish a $250,000 bond to be used for the project.
All the money paid to Oaks by the CHS was supplied by the FBI and the meetings were recorded using audio/video recording equipment.
Oaks faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud; 20 years in prison for honest services wire fraud; and five years in prison for each count of the Travel Act. An initial appearance has not yet been been scheduled in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen O. Gavin and Leo J. Wise, who are prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
