Rockville accountant accused of bribing Prince George’s lawmaker pleads not guilty
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Version 0 of 1. A Rockville accountant pleaded not guilty to a federal bribery charge in connection with allegations that he paid off a Prince George’s County lawmaker to obtain thousands in taxpayer funds. The government has accused Felix Nelson Ayala, 58, of paying then-Prince George’s County Council member William A. Campos (D) $5,000 a year between 2012 to 2015 in exchange for $25,000 in annual funding to the Caucus Salvadoreño Empresarial. Ayala founded the D.C.-based business caucus that awards scholarships to students in El Salvador and locally. Ayala entered the not guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on Wednesday, about three weeks after he was charged in the case. He also pleaded not guilty to a charge of making false statements to investigators. [Rockville accountant charged with bribing former Prince George’s lawmaker] “He looks forward to having his side of the story heard and his day in court,” said Richard A. Finci, the attorney representing Ayala, in an email statement. Campos, 42, last month pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges. He admitted that he took payments during his tenure on the county council and in return directed discretionary government funds to the nonprofits and community organizations of those who bribed him, according to court documents. [Former Md. State Del. Will Campos pleads guilty to accepting bribes for official favors] The plea from Campos is related to a far-reaching federal investigation of a bribery scheme in which the government alleges local businesses and liquor board officials paid off Maryland lawmakers in exchange for favorable votes on legislation that would expand alcohol sales in Prince George’s. Campos was a county council member from 2004 to 2014. He then became a member of the state legislature, but he resigned nine months into the job in 2015. Federal prosecutors would not detail Campos’s involvement in the liquor board investigation. Court documents indicate a former elected official cooperated with agents working on the liquor board investigation in exchange for a more lenient sentence on corruption charges. Prosecutors would not say whether Campos is the former elected official who took a plea deal. Campos’s plea agreement includes several details that appear to match information in the charges outlined in court filings against those arrested in the liquor board investigation. Campos is tentatively scheduled to be sentenced in April. A trial date has not been set for Ayala, who faces up to 10 years in prison if he is convicted. |