Currie Was Selling ‘Power Of His Office,’ Prosecutor Says

Trial begins with two views of state senator’s actions

Prosecutors and defense attorneys outlined starkly different views of former state Senate Budget and Taxation Committee chairman Ulysses Currie, as his trial on corruption charges began Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Baltimore.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen O. Gavin told jurors that Currie (D-Dist. 25) of District Heights used his position as leader of the committee, which votes on the budget of every state agency, to sell the “power of his office for nearly a quarter of a million dollars to two corrupt corporate executives” between 2003 and 2008.

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