Former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Vincent Gray, who served as District mayor from 2011 to 2015, will not face charges following an investigation into the finances of his 2010 mayoral campaign, Channing D. Phillips, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced Dec. 9.
Phillips did not comment on the campaign finance investigation in a statement, but said that 12 people who pled guilty to various charges in the investigation are on track to be sentenced, including seven who pleaded guilty to offenses directly connected to the 2010 District of Columbia mayoral campaign. Phillips said in the statement that motions were filed on Dec. 9 with federal judges to set sentencing dates for Jeffrey E. Thompson, Eugenia C. Harris, Vernon Hawkins, Mark Long, Howard L. Brooks, Thomas W. Gore and Stephanie Reich.
Lee A. Calhoun, Stanley Straughter, Troy White, Kelvin Robinson and Jeff Smith pleaded guilty to crimes in a broader probe of campaign finance corruption that was indirectly related to the Gray investigation, Phillips said in the statement.
Gray said in a statement of his own that he was pleased with the U.S. Attorney’s decision.
“My life’s work has been dedicated to uplifting people,” the former mayor said. “I ran for mayor to serve District residents. The announcement from the U.S. Attorney ends a lengthy investigation.”
“Here in the District and around the country many people have had their faith in our justice system tested. Justice delayed is justice denied, but I cannot change history,” he added. “I look forward to getting on with the next chapter of my life, which no doubt will be dedicated to service.”
Political observers in the District have speculated that Gray could make a credible, and potentially successful, run for the Democratic at-large or the Ward 7 council seats in the June 14 Democratic Party primary. Gray served as the Ward 7 council member from 2005 to 2007 and chairman of the D.C. Council from 2007 to 2011.
Responding to Phillips’ announcement, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), who defeated Gray in the April 1, 2014 Democratic mayoral primary, said “the U.S. Attorney is responsible for bringing cases and securing justice.”
“The new U.S. Attorney for the District has concluded that justice has been secured with seven convictions in the 2010 Gray mayoral campaign and a dozen in totals,” Bowser said. “It is not my job to question his actions but to continue to do the job that the residents elected me to do: expand opportunity to more D.C. residents. And that’s what we do, not just today but every day.”