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This item is part of The Daily Record’s coverage of the Catherine Pugh "Healthy Holly" scandal.
Sentencing: Former Baltimore mayor Pugh sentenced to 3 years in prison
| After sentencing, Pugh says she hopes to rebuild her life
Timeline: A timeline of the Catherine Pugh scandal
Earlier coverage: Pugh pleads guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges | In a hushed courtroom, a stoic Pugh admits to her crimes | Former Baltimore mayor Pugh indicted on 11 federal counts | Indictment renews focus on UMMS self-dealing scandal | Trail to Catherine Pugh started with obscure aide’s campaign finance violation | Read the indictment | Watch the U.S. Attorney's news conference | Ex-Pugh aide’s swearing-in for House delayed following indictment | Pugh aide found guilty of campaign finance violations
Here is a rundown of events that led up to the sentencing of former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh on charges related to the sale of her “Healthy Holly” children’s book series:
Dec. 6, 2016
Catherine Pugh takes office after winning the mayoral election in November.
Jan. 9, 2017
Gary Brown Jr., an aide to then-mayor Pugh, was indicted on several counts of election law violations stemming from alleged illegal contributions to the Committee to Elect Catherine E. Pugh. Brown had been scheduled to be sworn in to the Maryland House of Delegates that day, an event that did not occur.
May 30, 2017
Brown is found guilty on two counts of making illegal contributions to the mayor’s campaign.
Feb. 4, 2019
Bill from Sen. Jill P. Carter, D-Baltimore city, to require the University of Maryland Medical System board to adopt new conflict of interest rules has its first reading in the Senate Finance Committee.
March 13, 2019
The Baltimore Sun reports nine members of the UMMS board have deals with the hospital network benefiting their private companies, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each.
March 14, 2019
Carter’s bill has a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee, a day after The Sun report.
“Healthy Holly” series of books. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP)
March 18, 2019
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh steps down from the UMMS board after the revelation that the network of hospitals had bought 100,000 copies of her self-published children’s book, “Healthy Holly.”
March 19, 2019
John W. Dillon and Robert L. Pevenstein resign from the board. Four other members of the board with potential conflicts — August J. Chiasera, former state senator and insurance broker Francis X. Kelly, James A. Soltesz and Walter A. Tilley Jr. — take voluntary leaves of absence pending a review of the system’s governance practices.
March 20, 2019
Pugh says she has returned $100,000 to UMMS.
March 21, 2019
UMMS President and CEO Robert A. Chrencik takes a leave of absence. John W. Ashworth begins serving as interim president and CEO.
March 28, 2019
Pugh holds a news conference to apologize for creating an appearance of impropriety. She tells reporters she “never intended to do anything that could not stand up to scrutiny.” She shows reporters letters, shipping documents for books sent to Baltimore schools and children’s clothes designed as part of the “Healthy Holly” book series as proof of the product’s existence.
April 1, 2019
Kaiser Permanente confirms it paid Pugh roughly $114,000 for the books during a period when it sought a city contract. Also, the nonprofit Associated Black Charities, which manages the city’s Children and Youth Fund, collected nearly $90,000 from five entities, including CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, another insurer of the city, to buy the books.
April 2, 2019
Pugh begins a leave of absence to recover from pneumonia. City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young becomes ex officio mayor, as mandated in the city charter.
Nygren Consulting, a business management consultant in California, begins its review of business dealings between the University of Maryland Medical Systems and members of its board.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. calls Pugh’s situation unfortunate, but stops short of calling for her resignation, saying she should be given time to recover from her pneumonia.
April 3, 2019
The Daily Record reports at least two City Council members have requested Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming look into the payments from Kaiser Permanente for the books. Cumming says she could not confirm or deny an ongoing investigation.
Johns Hopkins Health System says one of its employees was approached by Pugh, while she was still a state senator, about buying the books. The health system didn’t buy the books. Also, all five companies that bought the
“Healthy Holly” books through Associated Black Charities are disclosed by the Baltimore City Ethics Board.
Franchot blasts Nygren Consulting as being “independent in name only,” saying they can’t get to the bottom of the scandal, but rather to make recommendations about how not to have scandals.
April 4, 2019
Chicago-based investment firm Ariel Investments says it purchased copies of the“Healthy Holly” books to distribute to attendees at a 2013 leadership conference where Pugh was speaking. In 2018, the city Board of Estimates, where Pugh controls three of the five votes, approved a $40 million investment of Employees’ Retirement System funds with Ariel that included $272,000 in annual fees. Wendy Fox, the firm’s chief compliance officer, says there was no way it could have known in 2013 that Pugh was even thinking about running for mayor.
April 8, 2019
The entire Baltimore City Council (except for Young, who is serving as ex officio mayor) signs a letter urging Pugh to step down. Pugh’s office issues a statement saying she intends to return to office when her health allows. The city’s House delegation announces its support of the letter from the council.
April 9, 2019
The Baltimore Sun reports that Ashworth is stopping the payment of executive bonuses that are typically approved by the board of directors until an independent review is finished.
April 10, 2019
Former Maryland Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignarajah announces a run for mayor, making him the first Democrat of note to launch a campaign.
April 11, 2019
Young orders an audit of a city contract for management of the Children and Youth Fund. Associated Black Charities, which manages the fund, had purchased $80,000 worth of the books.
April 12, 2019
The Greater Baltimore Committee calls on Pugh to resign. Donald Fry, the president and CEO of the committee, said that the decision to do so was difficult, but that the board determined that Pugh should resign so the city can move on.
April 18, 2019
Carter’s bill mandating stricter ethics and disclosure requirements for members of the UMMS board is signed into law by Gov. Larry Hogan. The law also gives Hogan the power to sweep the board clean.
April 19, 2019
The Daily Record reports Pugh’s campaign received $200,000 in loans from fellow UMMS board members in mid-April of 2016 during the Democratic primary election for mayor.
April 22, 2019
Young terminates the employment of three of Pugh’s aides, Gary Brown Jr., Afra White and Poetri Deal.
April 25, 2019
FBI and IRS agents raid Pugh’s homes and offices and serves a subpoena for her financial records at the office of her attorney, Steve Silverman. Gov. Hogan calls for Pugh to resign. Pugh is described by Silverman as distraught and exhausted, still battling the pneumonia that resulted in her taking leave on April 2 and not fit to make decisions about her future.
April 26, 2019
Chrencik resigns as president and CEO of the University of Maryland Medical System.
April 29, 2019
Four bills to change the City Council, including one that would ask city voters to empower the council to remove a mayor and another that would create a city administrator to run much of city government, are introduced at the Baltimore City Council. Those measures, if approved, would require approval by voters in the 2020 general election.
Attorney Steve Silverman, of Silverman Thompson Slutkin & White, announces Mayor Catherine Pugh’s resignation. (The Daily Record / Bryan P. Sears)
May 1, 2019
Pugh’s attorney, Steve Silverman, meets with the mayor at her Ashburton home for about 90 minutes, then tells reporters a decision about Pugh’s future will be announced May 2.
May 2, 2019
Silverman says Pugh has resigned; Young automatically becomes mayor of Baltimore.
Nov. 20, 2019
U.S. Attorney Robert Hur announces an 11-count indictment against Pugh. She is charged with seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of tax evasion and a count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Nov. 21, 2019
Pugh pleads guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. As Judge Deborah Chasanow asked Pugh questions of fact, she replied quietly, sometimes having to repeat her answers.
Dec. 18, 2019
Pugh is charged with perjury for allegedly failing to disclose her interest in her children’s book company on financial disclosure statements required during her time in the state legislature.
Former Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh, second from left, and her attorney Steven Silverman, left, leave a sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. Pugh was sentenced to three years in federal prison for arranging fraudulent sales of her self-published children’s books to nonprofits and foundations to promote her political career. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)
Feb. 13
Federal prosecutors file court papers asking for a 57-month prison sentence for Pugh.
Feb. 14
Pugh’s attorneys file court papers asking for a sentence of one year and a day.
Feb. 27
Pugh is sentenced to three years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Deborah K. Chasanow also sentenced Pugh to serve three years of supervised release after she leaves prison and ordered her to pay more than $411,000 in restitution and forfeit $669,000 in cash and property.
