Treasurer for Baltimore County campaign committees sentenced for stealing funds

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The onetime treasurer for a Baltimore County political slate who admitted to embezzling tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds will serve six months in jail, a judge decided Monday.

William C. McCollum, 52, stole money from the Baltimore County Victory Slate and the finance committee of former Baltimore County Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, according to a statement of facts that accompanied his guilty plea in May.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Robert E. Cahill Jr. sentenced McCollum to five years in prison with all but six months suspended. The judge rejected a request from the defense for probation or work release.

“I am struck by the level of betrayal and lack of gratitude that this crime shows us,” Cahill said. He said a prison sentence may also deter others in the future.

Bevins said in court that she forgave McCollum but could never forget his betrayal of their close friendship.

“The level of deceit is sickening to me,” Bevins said, her voice breaking with emotion. “You lost a true friend and confidant.”

The Office of the Maryland State Prosecutor, which brought the charges against McCollum, sought a one-year prison sentence.

“This is a crime of complexity, not a crime of opportunity,” Deputy State Prosecutor Sarah R. David said. “This crime took work.”

The state prosecutor accused McCollum in February  of embezzling more than $111,000 from the “Friends of Cathy Bevins” fund from April 23, 2015, through Jan. 31, 2020, for his personal benefit. He was accused of stealing funds through direct payments to pay his personal credit card bill and by depositing checks made out to the fund or to vendors into his personal bank account.

He also transferred funds directly from the committee’s account to himself, the state prosecutor alleged.

He was also accused of engaging in a similar scheme to steal more than $31,000 from the Baltimore County Victory Slate from May 27, 2015, through Dec. 14, 2018. McCollum transferred funds from the victory slate into the Friends of Cathy Bevins account that he then transferred to himself, according to the statement of facts read in court Thursday.

He also pleaded guilty to submitting campaign finance reports, which are signed under penalty of perjury, for both entities without reporting these transactions.

McCollum has paid $125,000 in restitution, borrowing from friends and family in order to pay off the money, according to a sentencing memorandum.

McCollum’s lawyer, Andrew Graham, asked for a sentence of probation with home detention and work release so that McCollum could continue working and begin to pay back the borrowed money.

“Warehousing him is really going to accomplish nothing,” Graham said.

In court, McCollum said his actions were “stunningly irrational.”

“I take 100% responsibility,” he said.

Graham wrote in the defense’s sentencing memorandum that McCollum was attempting to help keep afloat a generations-old family farm in North Carolina when he stole the money.

“This misguided motive is not offered as an excuse for his crime,” Graham wrote. “It is rather an explanation of why he would do something so stupid, harmful to his employers and the friends who trusted him, and ultimately and predictably, self-destructive.”

David, the deputy state prosecutor, said the money McCollum stole went toward supporting “a lifestyle above his means.”

She also emphasized that the crime undermined election integrity. Members of the public and the media use campaign finance reports to assess candidates, she said.

“He covered up the thefts using campaign finance reports, the public’s tool to understand who they are voting for,” David said.

McCollum was named acting director of economic development for Baltimore County in August 2020. He stopped working for the county in 2021 after the county’s inspector general reported wasteful spending at the Baltimore County Agricultural Center, where he had worked since 2010.

He reportedly kept getting paid for nearly a year after he stopped working for Baltimore County by using his accrued sick leave.

Former Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. established the Baltimore County Victory Slate in 2006 and uses it to finance his preferred political candidates.

A political slate is a campaign finance tool that allows multiple candidates to pool resources. Members of a slate can transfer unlimited amounts of money into the joint fund, which can then spend unlimited amounts on behalf of its members.