Former Baltimore mayor Catherine E. Pugh charged with wire fraud, tax evasion

Baltimore’s former mayor Catherine E. Pugh has been indicted by a federal grand jury on wire fraud and tax evasion over lucrative book deals for her self-published Healthy Holly children’s series, according to charges made public Wednesday.

Pugh resigned in May after revelations about the deals she allegedly cut with companies connected to the city and state government, setting off another political crisis and setback for the city.

Pugh, 69, was the second Baltimore mayor to leave office in the past decade while facing corruption allegations. The indictment describes a years-long scheme dating to 2011, when she was a state senator and before her days running Maryland’s largest city.

Prosecutors accuse Pugh of operating a sham business in which she ripped off nonprofit organizations and taxpayers by accepting payments for thousands of books she never intended to deliver. Pugh used the funds, according to court papers, to promote her political career, fund her mayoral campaign and to buy and renovate a house in Baltimore.