FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRM WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1995 (202) 514-2008 TDD (202) 514-1888 FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN MARY ROSE OAKAR AND FORMER OAKAR CAMPAIGN AIDE ARE INDICTED; SECOND FORMER OAKAR CAMPAIGN AIDE IS CHARGED, AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice announced today that a former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Mary Rose Oakar, of Cleveland, Ohio, has been charged with seven federal felonies in an indictment returned today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The same indictment also charges a former aide in Oakar's 1992 Congressional reelection campaign and nephew of Oakar, Joseph DeMio, with one federal felony. In addition, Justice Department announced that another former aide in Oakar's 1992 campaign and nephew of Oakar, Ignatius J. DeMio, has been charged with one federal misdemeanor in an information filed today in the U.S. Court for the District of Columbia, and that Ignatius J. DeMio has agreed to plead guilty to the charge. Count one of the indictment charges Oakar, 54, with violating the federal statute prohibiting conversion of public moneys, 18 U.S.C. 641. This count involves Oakar's negotiation in 1991 of a $16,000 insufficient funds check, drawn on her account at the former banking facility of the House Sergeant at Arms Office (commonly known as the "House Bank"), at the Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union in Washington, D.C. Count two of the indictment charges Oakar with violating the federal statute on false statements within the jurisdiction of a federal department or agency, 18 U.S.C. 1001. This count involves Oakar's failure to list on her 1991 Financial Disclosure Statement a $50,000 loan which she used in part to pay the settlement charges on a Georgetown townhouse she purchased in 1991. Count three of the indictment charges Oakar with violating the federal false statements statute, 18 U.S.C. 1001. This count involves Oakar's making false statements to the FBI in October, 1992, concerning three stop-payment orders, relating to her House Bank account, which she stated had been made and delivered to the House Bank. Count four of the indictment charges Oakar and Joseph DeMio, 31, with violating the conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. 371. This count involves a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and to make false statements to the FEC, relating to Oakar's 1992 Congressional reelection campaign. Counts five and six of the indictment charge Oakar with violating the federal false statements statute, 18 U.S.C. 1001. These counts involve two reports by Oakar's campaign committee, concerning contributions and expenditures to Oakar's 1992 reelection campaign, which were made pursuant to the Federal Election Campaign Act. Count seven of the indictment charges Oakar with violating the federal false statements statute, 18 U.S.C. 1001. This count involves Oakar's submission of a letter, dated May 11, 1992, to the FBI in December, 1994. The sole count of the information charges Ignatius J. DeMio, 29, with violating the conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. 371. This count involves Ignatius J. DeMio's conspiring to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act in connection with Oakar's 1992 Congressional reelection campaign. Oakar faces a maximum penalty, under the seven counts of the indictment, of 40 years' imprisonment and a $1,750,000 fine. Joseph DeMio faces a maximum penalty, under the conspiracy count of the indictment, of five years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Ignatius DeMio faces a maximum penalty, under the information, of one year's imprisonment and a $100,000 fine. The indictment, the information, and the plea agreement stem from the Department of Justice's ongoing investigation of the House Bank. This case is being handled by attorneys assigned to the House Bank Task Force, Criminal Division, composed of an Assistant U.S. Attorney from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a Senior Litigation Counsel from the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division, a Senior Counsel in the Criminal Division, and Special Agents of the FBI. The task force was formed in December, 1992, to continue the work of the preliminary inquiry into the House Bank that Malcolm R. Wilkey, retired Judge Wilkey for the District of Columbia Circuit, conducted as a Special Counsel to the Attorney General in 1992. The indictment of Oakar and Joseph DeMio represent the first indictment obtained by the House Bank Task Force, and the indictment and information represent the sixth and seventh charges brought by the Task Force. Former Congressman Carroll Hubbard, Jr., of Kentucky, pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the FEC, theft of government property, and obstruction of justice, and is currently serving a three-year term of imprisonment. Carol Brown Hubbard, the wife of former Congressman Hubbard, pled guilty to taking property without right and was sentenced to five years probation. Former Sergeant At Arms of the House of Rep1resentatives, Jack Russ, pled guilty to conversion of government funds, wire fraud, and filing false financial reports, and is currently serving a two-year term of imprisonment. Former Congressman Carl C. Perkins, also of Kentucky, pled guilty to bank fraud, conspiracy to file false statements with the FEC, and filing a false financial disclosure form, and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 13, 1995. Martha Amburgey, Perkins's secretary, pled guilty to aiding and abetting bank fraud, and conspiracy to file false statements with the FEC, and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 14, 1995. The investigation by the House Bank Task Force is continuing. # # # # 95-102