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Ex-Montgomery County official
gets 4 years in federal prison for embezzling $6.7 million
Peter Bang, front, walks into the U.S. District Court for the
District of Maryland in Greenbelt on Friday with his lawyer, Gerald W. Kelly
Jr. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)
February 22
Byung Il “Peter” Bang,
the former Montgomery County economic development official who admitted to
stealing $6.7 million from the county, was sentenced Friday to four
years in prison.
In a hearing that
stretched for more than two hours, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis underscored
the seriousness of the offense — which she called a “doozy” — while also
noting Bang’s role as a devoted husband and father, and his efforts to seek
help for the gambling addiction that prosecutors say motivated him to steal
from government coffers.
“This was a purposeful
plan that involved the largest theft in Montgomery County history, and I
cannot look away from that,” Xinis said.
Bang pleaded guilty Nov. 16 to two federal charges — one of
wire fraud and the other of fraud and false statements — and to
state charges of a theft scheme over $100,000 and misconduct in
office. Sentencing in the state case is scheduled for next month.
In
the moments before Xinis made her ruling, Bang addressed the court,
repeatedly saying he took “full responsibility” for the years-long theft. But
he quibbled with some points raised during the hearing, arguing, for example,
that a shell company prosecutors say he set up to further
the scheme was actually initially created for legitimate purposes.
“At this point, I have
no excuse,” Bang told the judge, lawyers and spectators in U.S. District
Court for the District of Maryland in Greenbelt. “I want to express remorse,
shame and offer apologies to my former employer and colleagues.”
He said he hasn’t gambled
since 2016 and has been undergoing treatment with a psychologist, who
diagnosed him as a “compulsive gambler with deep-rooted emotional and mental
issues.”
Prosecutors
had asked Xinis to sentence Bang to five years on the first federal charge,
with an additional three years to run concurrently on the second.
Xinis imposed a 48-month sentence
for the first charge and 36 months for the second, to be served concurrently.
She said his state sentence also should be served concurrently.
“He has arguably put a black mark
on Montgomery County,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Sullivan, noting
that Bang stole from a department tasked with bringing economic development
to the Maryland suburb of 1.1 million people. “Are businesses going to come
to Montgomery County when they know this type of malfeasance has occurred?”
Bang’s wife, Youn Jung, and his
pastor both spoke at the hearing, emphasizing his role as a family man,
albeit with psychological issues.
In a soft, halting
voice, his wife recounted her life with him. “I asked him why, and my husband
said, ‘I don’t know,’” she said as Bang stared straight ahead, his fingers
interlaced before him.
Bang’s attorney, Gerald
W. Kelly Jr., of Columbia, had requested three years in prison for his
client.
“A gambling addiction
and untreated mental health condition directly related to his conduct,” Kelly
said to the judge. “Mr. Bang stands before this court with sincere remorse
for his crimes.”
But Deputy County
Attorney John Markovs, speaking for Montgomery County, called Bang’s crime “a
case of public corruption at the highest level.”
“While Mr. Bang may be
a loving husband and father, that belies his intentions,” Markovs said. “His
embezzlement of county money is not a victimless crime.”
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