Insider Politics Blog

Kamenetz Writes Judge On Behalf of Huff

County Executive Kevin Kamenetz: "I believe he has the capacity to recognize his failures and learn from them, and can successfully complete such conditions as the court might impose in disposition."

County Executive Kevin Kamenetz was one of three people to write a character reference to a Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge on behalf of Councilman Todd Huff, who has pleaded guilty to DUI. The letter, which carried the county seal, was part of a defendant's exhibit provided to Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Martin two weeks ago as the judge began to contemplate Huff's sentence. The packet included letters from Nancy Hafford, executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce, and Rev. Paul Cummins, retired pastor of Hereford United Methodist Church and long-time family friend. Kamenetz, a Democrat, was the only elected official to pen a letter on Huff's behalf. The letter did not ask for leniency for Huff or make any …

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Victor Lustig

3:25 pm on Wednesday, May 1, 2013

I suspect you are missing the dynamic here which isn't about Kamenetz. Huff asked for a personal favor, which for all intents and purposes, would have little outcome on the proceedings. (It was a first time DUI without an accident, no jail time and probation is always the punishment.) Huff panicked. Now he owes Kamenetz a favor, probably at the cost of his independence in repping his constituents…   more ›

Councilman Todd Huff's Voice Mail Audio: 'I Was Drinking'

Baltimore County police release voicemail Todd Huff left for county police Chief Jim Johnson on the night the councilman was arrested for drunken driving.

In the minutes after Baltimore County Council member Todd Huff was pulled over for driving without headlights, the first-term Republican apparently called Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson multiple times and said in one of the calls he had been drinking before operating his county-owned Jeep. "Apparently I was pulled over, I didn't have my headlights on and yes, I was drinking," Huff said in the voice mail left on Johnson's county cell phone that lasted less than 30 seconds. The call was released by the the Baltimore County Police Department under a Maryland Public Information Act request filed Monday by Patch. Huff was pulled over shortly before 3 a.m. on Feb. 23 after a police officer spotted the councilman's silver Jeep Grand …

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