WASHINGTON – Former District of Columbia Councilmember Michael Brown has pleaded guilty in federal court to a bribery charge.
Brown, who was charged with bribery on Friday, entered the plea Monday afternoon.
Prosecutors accused Brown of accepting $55,000 in cash payments from undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen seeking preferential treatment from the city government.
He lost his bid for a second term in November. He ran again for an open at-large seat but abruptly dropped out in April, citing personal and family matters.
Brown is the third current or former member of the council to be criminally charged since January 2012.
The 48-year-old Brown is the son of Ron Brown, who was U.S. commerce secretary under President Bill Clinton. Ron Brown died in a 1996 plane crash in Croatia while leading a trade mission.
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