A former Maryland delegate and Prince George’s County councilman pleaded guilty to charges of bribery Jan 5. He faces up to 15 years in prison in addition to $340,000 in restitution.

Councilman William Alberto Campos-Escobar pled guilty to agreeing to accepting bribes in exchange for advantageous legislation and actions, according to the United States Department of Justice’s web page dedicated to the trial. Those who gave Campos-Escobar bribes, simply referred to as “cooperators” in the case, provided anything from $2,000 to $24,000.

United States Attorney for Maryland and Whitman parent Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the trial, said that corruption cases are uncommon because most political leaders aren’t involved in bribery and gathering evidence for federal bribery prosecutions takes luck, time and a lot of hard work.  

“One of my concerns about corruption cases is that they cause some people to lose confidence in government,” Rosenstein said. “When there is news about a corrupt politician, it makes some people more skeptical about all politicians. So I remind people that most politicians are honorable.”

For the Whitman community, Rosenstein didn’t see any obvious ripple effects, although he said he hoped for a positive outcome.

“I don’t think this case will have any unique impact on high school students,” Rosenstein said. “Hopefully, cases like this one will deter government officials from taking bribes, so officials who run schools and other government agencies will consider the best interests of the students and not their own interests.”

Government teacher Colin O’Brien said the incident could threaten the legitimacy of Maryland’s state and local governments and showed the need for local news groups.

“I think we need a more vibrant local press corp that can do investigative work dealing with Maryland and county government,” O’Brien said. “We need greater transparency and disclosure of how politicians are utilizing their power, and where they get their campaign contributions.”

Some students said they felt that, despite not being directly impacted by Campos-Escobar’s actions, it was disappointing to see any delegate abusing power since they are supposed to be role models for the community.  

“Personally, I am not affected but generally, it’s hard to be proud of our country and our accomplishments when you hear of the somewhat blurry routes people took to get there,” sophomore Rebecca Hirsh said. “Then again, faith can be restored depending on punishment and the accountability of people’s actions.”