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William “Christopher” McCollum, 52, of Lutherville, the treasurer for the “Friends of Cathy Bevins” and the “Baltimore County Victory Slate” campaigns pleaded guilty on Thursday, May 25, to one count of felony theft scheme and perjury in connection to his scheme to steal campaign funds.
According to prosecutors, McCollum “was systematically stealing funds raised by the committees, without the knowledge of the candidates the committees sought to support.”
The funds were taken from former Baltimore County Councilwoman Cathy Bevins.
While controlling her campaign finances, McCollum maintained a personal American Express credit card that was not associated with the candidate, but, as treasurer, he used funds from the Friends of Cathy Bevins committee to pay his personal credit card bill, totaling $64,189.89.
While working in that capacity, prosecutors say that McCollum also wrote checks from the committee to multiple business accounts that were purported to be related to the campaign, but were actually redirected to accounts he controlled to the tune of nearly $13,500.
He also transferred tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to his own personal accounts.
While acting as the treasurer of the “Baltimore County Victory Slate,” McCollum further transferred funds from the state account to Bevins’ account, which then were deposited in his own account.
None of the illegal transactions were ever reported on any of the required campaign finance reports for either campaign committee, which is required by law.
"The transactions were not reported on any of the required campaign finance reports for either campaign committee, including the 2016 Pre-General Report," according to prosecutors. "Such transactions and expenditures are material to the requirements of the Report.
"The Report was signed by McCollum under the penalties of perjury on Jan. 20, 2021, and submitted to the Maryland State Board of Elections."
McCollum is scheduled to be sentenced in late July, when he will face time behind bars.
“It is essential to the integrity of our elections that those who abuse positions of trust on political campaigns are held accountable,” Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton Howard said. “I’m proud of our office’s hard work in uncovering this extensive fraud and bringing the individual responsible to justice.”
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