A federal jury in Baltimore acquitted Maryland state Sen. Ulysses Currie on Tuesday in an influence peddling case, who was accused of accepting more than $245,000 in payments from a grocery store chain while he chaired a powerful budget committee.
State Sen. Ulysses Currie never disclosed he was being paid by a grocery store chain as he pressed the head of the Maryland State Highway Administration to install traffic lights near the company's stores, the highway chief testified during the lawmaker's bribery trial on Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that a prominent state senator sold the power of his office for more than $245,000 to help a grocery store chain over the years, though the lawmaker contends he was just helping store officials navigate state government and didn't do anything illegal.
