Former Prince George’s County Council member Jamel “Mel” Franklin pleaded guilty to felony theft Monday after authorities discovered more than $124,000 of discrepancies in his campaign finance accounts.
Between 2010 and 2023, Franklin was in sole control of several bank and PayPal accounts linked to his public service career, acting also as the treasurer of the Friends of Mel Franklin political committee, a violation of Maryland election law.
Twenty criminal charges, including two counts of felony theft scheme, were filed against Franklin in Anne Arundel Circuit Court in June, days after he resigned from the council. The charges were filed in Anne Arundel County because the Board of Elections is based in Annapolis.
Franklin, 48, was first elected to the all-Democratic council in 2010, representing the southern areas of Prince George’s County. Initially term-limited, Franklin’s political career was bolstered in 2016 after voters approved the creation of two at-large seats on the council, which Franklin won in 2018 and 2022.
Franklin’s attorneys declined to comment.
According to charging documents, going into his first campaign, Franklin created the Friends committee and opened a Capital One Bank account in 2009. At the time, a treasurer had signed on with Franklin, prosecutors said, but when that person resigned and was replaced, the candidate was the only person with access to the funds.
The first Friends account was closed by Capital One in October 2020 due to a negative balance, according to charging documents, and Franklin opened a second at Truist Bank two months later. Like the first, Franklin was the sole signer of the Truist account, prosecutors said.
In court filings, the Office of the State Prosecutor detailed thousands of dollars worth of improprieties with both Friends of Mel Franklin accounts, including personal transactions and payments toward the politicians’ credit card and loan debt.
Between 2021 and 2023, Franklin used over $13,700 from the account to send money to an unnamed “close personal friend,” book hotel rooms and pay for rent, as well as cosmetic procedures both for himself and a friend, according to charging documents. Other misuses since 2010 included car maintenance, subscription services and a deposit on an international trip this year.
When Franklin submitted mandatory finance campaign reports, he falsified information, prosecutors said, including how much he had paid himself and the balance of the account. In 2021, for instance, Franklin reported the Friends account as having over $103,000 when in reality, it had just more than $30,000, court records show.
According to state campaign records, Franklin received thousands of dollars from a variety of PACs representing Prince George’s County firefighters, transit workers in the Washington, D.C. region, real estate agents and healthcare workers along the East Coast.
In total, prosecutors accused Franklin of misusing and stealing $124,450.10 of campaign funds.
In June, state prosecutors filed 20 charges against Franklin in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, including multiple embezzlement, perjury and theft scheme charges — the latter two of which he was convicted of Monday.
“Elected officials should be held accountable if they violate the public trust and exploit the Maryland electoral process for personal financial gain,” said State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III. “I’m proud of our office’s hard work in uncovering this extensive fraud.”
Franklin will be sentenced on Nov. 13 before Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Mark Crooks.
