Takoma Park Man Pleads Guilty To Bribery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                               at (410) 209-4885

Greenbelt, Maryland –Matthew Gorman, age 43, of Takoma Park, Maryland, pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with bribery involving an agent of a program receiving federal funds.

The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Kimberly Lappin of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to court documents, Gorman was an attorney and lobbyist, who represented clients in front of the Prince George’s County Board of License Commissioners (“Liquor Board”).  In 2013, Gorman paid then-Prince George’s County Council Member William Alberto Campos-Escobar, a/k/a “Will Campos,” a $2,000 bribe payment in exchange for Campos writing a letter to the Liquor Board recommending that Business A receive a liquor license.  In 2015, Gorman paid Campos a bribe in exchange for Campos placing a phone call to the Liquor Board on behalf of Business A.

By early 2015, Campos no longer was on the County Council and instead had been sworn in as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates.  According to court documents, Gorman, in conjunction with David Dae Sok Son, Shin Ja Lee, and Young Jung Paig, all of Maryland, paid a $4,000 bribe to Campos in exchange for Campos’s assistance in passing legislation that authorized the Liquor Board to issue certain liquor licenses permitting establishments to sell liquor on Sundays.  Lee and Paig owned liquor stores that stood to benefit from the Sunday liquor sales licenses.

Also in 2015, Gorman paid a $5,000 bribe to Campos in exchange for certain actions by Campos, including Campos testifying on behalf of Business B before the Montgomery County Board of License Commissioners.         

Gorman faces a maximum sentence of up to ten years in prison.

As part of the related investigation, other individuals, including those below, have pleaded guilty to related federal criminal offenses:

• On January 6, 2017, Will Campos pleaded guilty to conspiracy and bribery.
• On April 20, 2017, Young Paig pleaded guilty to bribery.
• On May 17, 2017, Shin Lee pleaded guilty to bribery.

Additionally, on January 4, 2017, David Son was charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy and bribery.

Gorman’s sentencing currently is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on December 20, 2017, before Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI, IRS-CI, and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas P. Windom, Menaka S. Kalaskar, Arun G. Rao, and James A. Crowell IV, who are prosecuting the case.