Sheila Dixon Verdict is in After Trial: Embezzlement for Stealing

The Sheila Dixon verdict is in after her trial and today the Baltimore Mayor was convicted of embezzlement for stealing the gift cards that were meant for poor residents.

She was not however, convicted for three other charges that were laid against her, the most serious being a felony theft charge.

Sheila Dixon was accused of stealing around $1,500 of gift cards that were meant to go to needy families in Balitimore. They were donated by developers, including her ex-boyfriend Ronald H. Lipscomb, and she was accused of using them herself at Target, Old Navy, Best Buy and Toys 'R' Us to buy things like DVDs, CDs and a PlayStation 2. 

She may be forced from office due to the verdict today, but one charge the jury couldn't come to an agreement on, so that charge may not be refiled. She had this to say today:

Sheila Dixon is Baltimore's first female Mayor and she took office in January 2007. It is unknown at this time what will happen to her position in office. She has to undergo another trial in March 2010 on two perjury counts as she is accused of not disclosing gifts she received.

According to state law, she is supposed to be suspended from her duties until after sentencing, but her lawyers said today that they plan to appeal the verdict, so only after, if those appeals fail, will she be forced from office. In that case Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the City Council president, will become the Mayor of Baltimore.

It is also not know at this time if the prosecutor will ask for jail time, which in this case, could be at least one year.

The defense portrayed the Mayor as a decent, hard-working woman who made a mistake in thinking the gift cards were hers and that they were anonymous gifts.

The city of Baltimore seemed to be fairly split on the trial of Sheila Dixon. On the one hand they were outraged that their Mayor would do this, and one the other they thought the city was wasting time on such a lengthy trial.