3 Counts Dismissed In Bribery Conspiracy Case Involving Ex-Clerk

CHICAGO — A federal judge Friday tossed out several bribery charges against a Pennsylvania businessman accused of conspiring to bribe former Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown.

Donald Donagher, 68, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and his debt-collection company, Penn Credit, were indicted in March 2019 on one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and five counts of federal program bribery.

Federal prosecutors alleged Donagher bribed court clerks in Cook County and three counties in Florida. He and his company contributed thousands of dollars to accounts linked to Brown and her campaign and provided gifts that were "intended to influence and reward" the former clerk, according to the charges. Brown is identified as "Clerk A" in the indictment. She has not been criminally charged and has denied any wrongdoing.

At a hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge John Lee granted a request from Donagher's lawyers to dismiss three of the bribery counts and parts of the conspiracy charge relating to campaign contributions.

The judge allowed the other bribery counts to stand, and prosecutors have the option of re-filing the dismissed charges, according to the Chicago Tribune. Lee said the counts connected to campaign contributions did not sufficiently allege an "explicit" quid pro quo, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

If Donagher is convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in federal prison for each bribery count. The next status hearing in the case was set for March 5.

Related:
Debt Collector Bribed Dorothy Brown's Office For Business: Feds
Ex-Dorothy Brown Aide Beena Patel Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison
Aide's Lies Thwarted Dorothy Brown Bribery Probe, Prosecutors Say
Ex-Cook County Clerk Employee Sentenced For Lying To Feds
$10,000 Buys A Job In Clerk Dorothy Brown's Office: Court Filing

In office since 2000 and under federal investigation starting in 2014 or earlier, Brown did not run for re-election last year. Former State Sen. Iris Martinez won the Democratic Party primary in March and was sworn in December after receiving 73 percent of the vote in the general election.

Prior to her departure, federal corruption investigations into Brown's office resulted in convictions for two of Brown's aides.

Former employee Sivasubramani Rajaram pleaded guilty to perjury and was sentenced to three years of probation after making false statements to investigators about a $15,000 bribe disguised as a loan to Goat Masters Corporation, a business owned by Brown and her husband.

Then in December 2019, former Associate Clerk Beena Patel was sentenced to two years in federal prison after a jury found her guilty of lying to a federal grand jury investigating allegations Brown's office operated a bribes-for-jobs scheme.

Prosecutors said the pair's false testimony thwarted the probe into corruption and bribery schemes in Brown's office.

Prior to Patel's sentencing, the presiding judge reportedly commented that there was clearly "somethin funny happening in the clerk's office."