BALTIMORE, MD—A Baltimore County man has been indicted on federal bribery charges, accused of paying more than $10,000 to a former Baltimore City finance official to extinguish his financial obligations to the city, including unpaid water bills.
James Carroll Erny Jr., 54, of Glen Arm, Maryland, was charged with one count of bribery, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Kelly O. Hayes announced Wednesday, June 11, 2025. The indictment was unsealed today.
According to the indictment, from about August 2021 through September 2023, Erny allegedly paid Joseph Gillespie, a former employee of the Baltimore City Department of Finance, Revenue Collections, at least $10,000 in bribes. In exchange, Gillespie is accused of removing various financial debts Erny owed to the city, linked to properties Erny owned.
Gillespie was sentenced on Feb. 20, 2025, to four years in federal prison for his role in the bribery scheme and an unrelated fraud scheme. He will also serve three years of supervised release.
According to his plea agreement, Gillespie’s bribery scheme began in 2016 and continued into 2023. As a public official, he allegedly abused his position by accepting bribes from various property owners in Baltimore City who faced financial obligations that could lead to tax sales if unpaid.
Gillespie typically accepted bribes amounting to 10% to 15% of the amount owed to the city. In return, he would remove or extinguish these financial obligations, which included citations, taxes, and water bills, causing losses for the city. He also allegedly delayed or postponed due dates for payments without approval, preventing the city from placing liens on properties.
After receiving a bribe, Gillespie would mark the financial obligation as paid in the city’s online records. In some instances, he would send a photograph of a cashier slip to show a payment was made, even though no payment had been received by the city.
Gillespie admitted that his scheme involved multiple co-conspirators. He received more than $250,000 in connection with the bribery scheme and caused losses to Baltimore City exceeding $1.25 million.
If convicted, Erny faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
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