Catherine Pugh

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Catherine Elizabeth Pugh (born March 10, 1950) is a former Democratic politician who served as the 50th mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, until she resigned in a scandal eventually leading to criminal charges.

Pugh has been involved in Maryland politics since 1999 when she served on the Baltimore City Council.

She has also held office in the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate, serving as the Majority Leader from 2015 to 2016.

She first ran for Baltimore City mayor in 2011 and lost the primary to Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Pugh ran again in 2016 and won the primary against former Mayor Sheila Dixon.

Pugh then won the mayoral election on November 8, 2016, with 57% of the popular vote, and took office on December 6, 2016.

She was Baltimore's third consecutive female mayor. In April 2019, Pugh announced she was taking an indefinite leave of absence to recover from pneumonia.

The announcement coincided with a scandal over a "self-dealing" book-sales arrangement, whereby organizations allegedly purchased large quantities of Pugh's books in exchange for contracts with the city.

On May 2, 2019, Pugh resigned as Mayor of Baltimore amid the book scandal and on November 20, 2019, she was indicted by a grand jury on eleven counts, including tax evasion, fraud, and conspiracy in connection with the book transactions.

The following day she signed a plea agreement, pleading guilty to four charges of conspiracy and tax evasion, with sentencing scheduled for February 27, 2020.

Early life

Pugh was born as Catherine Crump on March 10, 1950, in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Pugh was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her seven siblings. In 1967, she graduated from Overbrook High School in Philadelphia.

Education

Pugh earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration from Morgan State University in Baltimore City, Maryland. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Personal life

Pugh married her husband Phillip in 1973, and they divorced two years later; she has no children. She lives in Baltimore's Ashburton neighborhood in the Forest Park area of Northwest Baltimore City.

A runner and fitness enthusiast, Pugh has written a series of children's health books called Mind Garden: Where Thoughts Grow and Healthy Holly, which advocate exercise and healthy eating. She is also the founder of community programs, such as the Baltimore Marathon; the Fish Out of Water Project, a program that promotes tourism in Baltimore City to raise money for arts programs for local youth; and the Need to Read Campaign, a program designed to help Baltimore residents improve their reading skills.

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Early career

Pugh began teaching Marketing and Introduction to Business at Morgan State University in 1977. Pugh and Company, a public relations firm, was established in 1988. She worked as an assistant editor and dean, director of Strayer Business College in Baltimore from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. In 1994, she returned to Philadelphia and co-owner of WGTW-TV, a local Delaware Valley television station, where she hosted "Another View," a weekly public affairs program that emphasized community leadership and public officials.

Political career

Pugh became a member of the Baltimore City Council in 1999. She is president and CEO of Pugh and Company and was named the 51st mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, in December 2016.

Pugh was first elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1999, where she served until 2004. She ran for president of the council in 2003 but fell to Sheila Dixon in the primary.

Governor Bob Ehrlich appointed Pugh to a vacant seat in the Maryland House of Delegates in 2005, where she served from June 21, 2005 to January 10, 2007. She later obtained a seat in the state Senate and served there from January 10, 2007 to December 6, 2016. She served as the State Senate Majority Leader while on the Finance Committee and served as the State Senator Majority Leader. Pugh, the state's chief, drafted the law on cyber safety and telemedicine expansion. Pugh is also responsible for diversifying the state's $40 billion pension fund, after triggering the passage of Senate Bill 606, which raised black and other minority owned funds from $300 million to $4.2 billion. Pugh is a former president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, and she served as the past chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and Maryland's Women's Caucus Legislators.

Pugh entered the city of Baltimore in 2015 and opened her campaign headquarters in the city. Sheila Dixon, the former mayor of Sheila Dixon, was an underdog until the early 2016. Elijah Cummings' endorsement in April 2016 boosted her campaigning efforts. Pugh took the Democratic primary with 37 percent of the vote to Dixon's 34%. The Democratic primary in Baltimore has long been the real contest, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans 10-to-1, so Pugh was overwhelmingly favored in the general election. She took over with 57% of the vote on November 8 and assumed office on December 6, 2016.

Pugh succeeded Stephanie Rawlings-Blake as Baltimore's 51st mayor. She inherited several problems from the Rawlings-Blake administration as mayor. Following the death of Freddie Gray before Donald Trump's inauguration, Pugh prioritized the United States Department of Justice inquiry into the Baltimore Police Department. Judge James K. Bredar approved Pugh's consent decree, as well as former acting US Attorney General Vanita Gupta's, ignoring new US Attorney General Jeff Sessions' objection.

Additional problems faced by the Pugh administration included Baltimore's murder statistics, vacant housing, and revitalization, as well as the cancellation of the Baltimore Red Line and the upgrade of Governor Larry Hogan's BaltimoreLink bus system. Despite supporting it during her campaign, Pugh vetoed a bill to raise Baltimore's minimum wage to $15 an hour over five years, citing questions over businesses moving out of the city and adverse effects on nonprofits and small businesses. "British Senator Ricarra Jones, chairwoman of the Fight for $15 Baltimore Coalition, condemned the veto. Mayor Pugh, a state senator, was a vocal promoter of a livable minimum wage and specifically stated that he would sign the Baltimore wage bill as mayor." "She has made it clear that promises are meant to be disregarded today," she said.

In July 2017, Pugh and other Baltimore city officials announced a mandatory one-year term for unlawful carrying a firearm in several areas of Baltimore. The step was seen as an attempt to tackle the city's burgeoning violence rate. The Baltimore city council voted to derail the legislation.

Pugh, a trustee, decided to purchase her Healthy Holly self-published books to donate to Baltimore schoolchildren in March 2019. This no-bid payment was controversial because the years of payments coincided with her time as the chair of a health committee in the Maryland State Senate and as mayor of Baltimore. She did not disclose the payments or recuse herself from voting or decisions concerning the medical system. Maryland legislative officials have promised to change the medical center's policy of giving large contracts to trustees due to the opposition it faces to their decisionmaking, which also includes approval of a $4 million salary to the institution's CEO. Pugh's book was worth $500,000 from the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) for 100,000 copies. However, the company that was printing the journal confirmed that it had only printed 60,000 copies.

Pugh's first book sales were thought to be the University of Maryland Medical System, but the Baltimore Sun announced on April 1, 2019, that Kaiser Permanente paid more than $100,000 for a copy of the book, and Pugh's group paid more than $100,000 for copies of the book. Both companies do business in Baltimore, Maryland. Associated Black Charities in turn resold some of its copies to other organizations, including CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, another Baltimore insurer.

All members of the Baltimore City Council ratified a memorandum urging Pugh to resign as mayor on April 8, 2019. Following her leave of absence due to sickness, Pugh said she planned to return to work.

FBI and IRS agents searched six locations on April 25, 2019, including two buildings owned by Pugh, Baltimore City Hall, and a nonprofit group whose board Pugh served.

Pugh resigned as Baltimore's Mayor on May 2, 2019. She was charged by a grand jury on 11 counts of fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy in connection with the Healthy Holly book transactions on November 20, 2019. She signed a plea deal the following day, admitting to four counts of tax evasion and conspiracy.

Pugh was sentenced to three years in jail on February 27, 2020, followed by three years of probation. Pugh was ordered to pay $412,000 in restitution by US District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow. In addition, Pugh's campaign account, which includes her Ashburton home and the remaining balance of her campaign account, totaling $17,800, will be forfeited. Pugh has also confirmed that all copies of Healthy Holly in government detention will be destroyed. Several extensions were given to postpone the start of her prison term. Pugh received a prison term at Federal Correctional Institution, Aliceville, Alabama, on June 26, 2020. Pugh was released on April 1, 2022, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisoner inmate system.

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