Indicted Maryland legislator charged with tipping off target
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland state senator already indicted on charges that he accepted illegal payments while using the word “lollipop” as a code for every $1,000 he expected to collect was indicted again after investigators say he tipped off the target of a federal investigation, the U.S. attorney’s office said Wednesday.
A federal grand jury indicted Sen. Nathaniel Oaks on an obstruction of justice charge. An attorney for the senator did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Oaks, a 71-year-old Baltimore Democrat, had agreed to co-operate with the FBI by recording his conversations with the target of a new investigation. At the direction of the FBI, Oaks covertly recorded his telephone conversations and in-person meetings with the target from Jan. 9 until March 30, the U.S. attorney’s office said. The target is not identified.
Oaks allegedly approached the target March 17 at a bar in Annapolis without recording or disclosing the conversation to the FBI, telling the target “what we talked about, just say no.”