D.C. Mayor's Driver No Longer Working as Lobbyist

The driver for Mayor Vincent Gray's 2010 campaign who pleaded guilty to conspiracy last week is no longer working as a lobbyist for the Johns Hopkins University and health system.

Mark Long was the sixth person associated with Gray's campaign to plead guilty to a felony. The mayor has denied wrongdoing throughout the long-running investigation and has not been charged with a crime.

Johns Hopkins spokesman Dennis O'Shea says Long was hired in July 2013 as director of government affairs in Washington. He says Long no longer works for Hopkins. He declined to provide details of Long's departure, calling it a confidential personnel matter.

O'Shea says Long's job included lobbying the District of Columbia government.

Long, a former D.C. Council candidate, served as the driver for Gray during his 2010 campaign and allegedly drove the mayor to secret meetings.

A charging document says Long was paid by a public-relations firm to serve as Gray's driver and that those payments weren't reported to campaign-finance officials. It also says Long was involved in a scheme to pay another candidate to drop out of the race and endorse Gray. The document does not identify Gray by name, but prosecutors have previously named him in court in related cases.

Long's sentencing is scheduled for October.

He is cooperating with investigators looking into the scandal, but it is still unknown what information he may be providing.

Copyright The Associated Press
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