Extortion Charge Against City Construction Supervisor

BALTIMORE, MD — A Baltimore City construction supervisor has been charged in an alleged extortion scheme. Daryl Christopher Wade, 50, of Rosedale, is accused of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes to void fines.

Wade, who is a construction project supervisor within the Baltimore City Department of Transportation, works within the "Street Cut Unit." The unit is tasked with monitoring street cuts and street-cut permits, which are required when companies need to impede alleys, sidewalks, public streets or other right-of-ways for construction projects. Permits are valid for 120 days and if the street cut is not repaired by then, the transportation department imposes a fine of $50 per day, officials said.

Based on an investigation involving confidential informants, the Maryland district attorney filed a criminal complaint alleging Wade solicited payments from contractors by claiming he could void their fines.

Wade, who has been a city employee since 1988, was recorded in a telephone conversation discussing a $17,000 fine for street cuts with the head of a plumbing and drain construction business he approached after a hearing.

According to the criminal complaint, the businessman had said he was not responsible for the fines during a March 2016 hearing, after which Wade approached him and asked, "What is it worth to you?"

Wade allegedly agreed to accept $5,000, some of which he said would have to go to an accountant in the city's accounting and payroll services bureau, to make the fines disappear.

The complaint alleges that the businessman threw $3,000 into Wade's city-owned vehicle at an agreed-upon meeting spot, after which Wade said: "You good for life with me..." and later stated: "We in cahoots now..."

The incident allegedly occurred on Sept. 22, 2016, and six days later the businessman paid Wade the additional $2,000 in cash, officials said; a journal entry dated Sept. 28, 2016, in the Baltimore City accounting system noted the $17,000 in fines was voided by a woman working in the city's accounting bureau, the district attorney said in a statement.

The complaint also alleges that a Maryland construction and utilities company owner with the initials "J.S." was also "in cahoots" with Wade, trying to broker bribes from a Virginia-based construction company that works on sewer lines throughout the East Coast. The company had nearly $100 million in contracts with the city of Baltimore in 2016 to restore, replace and overhaul sewer and water lines, including work that required street cuts, according to the district attorney.

J.S. allegedly told the vice president of the unnamed Virginia company that it would be fined $1.3 million for street cuts, and said that his connection, Wade, could reduce the payments by 80 percent if the company paid $52,000 to Wade, an offer that officials said the Virginia company rejected.

Wade is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Baltimore at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 25.

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