Loose Lips

HTJ to D.C.: You’ll Get Your Money When You Get Your Money

Former Ward 5 Councilmember and current federal prison inmate Harry Thomas Jr. is now officially $80,000 plus interest behind on his $300,000 payment plan with the District government.

Thomas, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to stealing more than $350,000 in city funds, was supposed to make a $50,000 payment at the end of June. He reported to federal prison, where he's been sentenced to spend three years, about a week before that payment was due.

Thomas agreed last summer to a $50,000-every-six-months payment plan as part of a settlement to a civil lawsuit. That was before his criminal legal troubles began. D.C. Office of the Attorney General spokesman Ted Gest says the city has informed Thomas that he's now in default for the June payment and continues to be $30,000 short on the payment that was due at the beginning of this year.

In April, the OAG's office deposed Thomas to get details about his financial situation and his ability to pay the settlement, a transcript of which LL obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. During the deposition, Thomas makes clear what everyone already knows: that a man sitting in prison doesn't have a whole lot of options when it comes to raising money.

Q: And do you have any current plan or current intention to make an additional payment in the next, within the next couple of months on your debt to the District Government?

A. Depending on my circumstances, if I have the ability to do so, I will.

Q. But you don't have any specific intention at this point?

A. If I have the ability to do so, I will. I mean, that is about as specific as I can be on it.

Other tidbits from the deposition: Thomas says he traded in the $70,000 2008 Audi SUV he purchased with stolen city funds for about $20,000, which he used to buy another SUV that was seized by the feds. And had he not been forced to resign as a councilmember and sent to prison, Thomas' plan to pay off the city included "probably [trying] to refinance and do some different things."

Photo by Darrow Montgomery


    If HTJ is a waste of oxygen what are the REAL CROOKS???
    $360k+ compared to the $92m+ that the Fenty Gang stole.

  • Wait, What?

    HTJ will pay the city right around the same time that Kwame pays the city back for his Navigator usage - lol'z. C'mon Machen, finish these indictments and end this sad charade once and for all.

  • mizluvsco

    Wait, What?: No, Machen should START looking for indictments for REAL CRIMINALS, like FenyT, Nickles, Skinner, that chauffer dude with the lawn contract, and others too numerous to name.

    HJT is busy doin' his time and gettin' even more Street Creds. Let the Brother be. And those were LL's words, not his. HJT's words rang true as a bell, maybe he can write a book or sumpin' while he's locked down. Name a few names, uncover a few scams; wasn't he close to Fenty at one time? LOL

  • Sally

    Neither Thomas nor Kwame will ever pay the city back for what they owe or stole.

  • Anonymous

    ...and life long career criminal Jim "Taxi Cash" "AIDS Grift" Graham still walks the streets.

  • mizluvsco

    @ Anonymous: I really like Mr. JmGrm, but ROFLMAO.
    And he probably is too.

  • capitol hill

    Thomas should stay in jail until he pays all the money back. Even if it takes forever. Is this how you get credibility in the black community mizwhoever you are? Steal from children?
    Dumb Ghetto Bitch.

  • Anonymous, Too

    Speaking of politics and money, did Tony Williams or his campaign ever pay the remaining $20,000 of attorney/lobbyist Mark Policy's bill for handling a kerfuffle between Williams and Tom Lindenfield back in the early aughts?

  • how bout this?

    Damn, Cap @#9. Did the shoe fit????

    First of all, how would he pay back the money if he's in jail? Oh, I know: Write a book exposing YOU and/or YOUR thieving friends.

    Second, yes, going to jail and not ratting out people is one of the ways to get 'street creds' in the Black community. Get it? No because you have to be Black and Ghetto to understand. Mitt stole from children through greed when he stole their parents' jobs and he didn't do a day. But I guess that's a White thing.

    Third, I have a few degrees that would dispute your 'Dumb Ghetto Bitch' sobriquet. (I love you too.) But about the only thing that's correct in it is the term 'Ghetto' since I was born a male. To the bone, Dawg. Even so, there is still a problem with the 'Ghetto' snipe because I've lived and loved on Capitol Hill for over 70 years. How about you?????

  • seeseehpounder

    @misluvsco: DIRFL.

    Where does the fine go? It should go to kids he stole from.

  • how bout this?

    @CC #11: Do you mean royalties? I'm sure HTJ wouldn't mind sharing with the kids. Now what I want to know is what will all of us get back from the Fenty/Nickles $92Mil Scam? There certainly should be a movie about Papa Nickles and and the five and dimers x's $millions.

  • Daddy Grace Fish Sandwich

    Has anyone every heard of a young man named A. J. Cooper? I heard he's running for an At-Large D.C. City Council seat.


  • AntiDCPioneer

    Isn't this man in Prison? How pretell does this author suppose he make payments on a convicts hourly wage? This story is over for the next 3 years. I am going to suppose that the D.C. Attorney General's office doesn't expect payment or a payment plan until then.

  • southeast lady

    If HTJr is off the DC city payroll and hidden political money is rolling in, where is he going to get the money to pay coming from? He is no longer politically viable and is a jailbird.

  • southeast lady

    If HTJr is off the DC City payroll and Hidden political money is no longer rolling in, where is he going to get the money? He is no longer politically viable and is now a jailbird.

  • southeast lady

    To Sally, #4, right on. They will never have the ability to pay back the money. So let's get over this. However, whatever monies they may make later on by writing a book, coping a plea by handing up other people who were in on this (and there are other peeps, there always is). All monies should go to a fund to help the people they profess that they wanted to help.

  • southeast lady

    #14 how much do they get paid to make license plates these days. (smile)

  • southeast lady

    Capitol Hill--I don't know bout you!

  • southeast lady

    To All bloggers: I don't know bout you! HTJr, and Kwame, etc. are dynasty kids. Their fathers and mothers come from a different time, with different morals and values. Mother may have, father may have, God bless the child that has it owns. Different generation, different times and things going, different moralities and moral codes. They are not their mothers and fathers children in the wider world.

    We cannot rely on them to carry on their parents legacy!

  • sticktoyourguns

    it is quit hard to believe that no one is asking or charging fenty and his crew with the millions they stole from the dc government and the residents of dc

  • Pissed off about my tax dollars

    Take his house! Make the prefect wife pay it back. She also benefited frI'm the stolen funds. She is equally as responsible. The city can not let this go. The city must recover this money. Sometimes life is hard when you do bad things. Force the sale of his house and place a Lien on all of his assets.

  • Pissed off about my tax dollars

    People wake up. What you think Fenty did is not the same as HTJ. HTJ took money, our money. Whats wrong with the black people in this city. We will never get ahead if we don't understand we all must have goals, get out work, and take care of ourselfs, not steal or wait for an elected offical to give us a bone!

  • AntiDCPioneer

    The city cannot arbitrarily take someones home unless it is proven that the property was acquired using ill-gotten (stolen) money. They can, maybe, place a lien on it but they cannot summarily seize it. I don't wish that on his kids anyhow.

    HTJ will be ever indebted to the city. Unless, of course, a family member or friend chooses to satisfy the debt on his behalf. Much like that former drug dealer paid back the family whose dead relatives estate was raided by then attorney Adrian Fenty.


    HJT does have money and assets that should be liquidated to satisfy the debt owed to the District of Columbia residents.

    • The largest Asset is the home in Ward Five

    I know some of you will cry his wife and children
    should be allowed to remain in the house and
    unharmed by his conviction.Guess what, they benefited
    from his criminal acts and should not be exempt from
    sharing the pain.

    • HJT has retirement accounts with the District of

    Go to Court and seize the money.

    • HJT may also have retirement accounts with the Federal
    Government from his time as a Federal employee.

    • What happened to the boat?

    Seize it, sell it, and get my stolen tax dollars.

    • The district has a legal claim on the SUV and
    motorcycles that were seized by the Federal agents

    Pursue the legal claim and force the sale of the

    • Any other retirement accounts, (IRA) or financial
    accounts should be seized and make the Thomas family
    proved that they were not the product of his criminal


  • Lexus Variance

    Come on people! HJT signed a "quit claiim" on his home when his attorney realized that at some point he would be going to jail. That means that the home is now owned soley by his wife. The feds cannot touch that asset. His retirement account from DC government only had about $50k in it and the feds have already taken that. The feds cannot, by law, seize his pension from the federal government employment. But, even HJT cannot take that until later in life, or it will be taxed at 40%. There are no real assets in his "portfolio" (using that word here is a stretch).

  • AntiDCPioneer

    @LV, facts be damned to some. They are driven soley by emotion. Fortunately the law doesn't work that way.

  • nowaitadaminit

    2taxdollars: Be pissed off because you pay taxes without representation. Be pissed off because the little $360K that Harry is doing time for wouldn't pay the annual salaries of the US Attorneys who put him away, but the real money being stolen: $50K+ tax scam, etc is gone but not forgotten. Be pissed off because Adrian Fenty payed his girlfriend a $100K+ DC Gov salary even though she couldn't pass the GED exam. Don't even get me started on the money Fenty and his gang STOLE and got away with it. (SO FAR)

  • Typical DC BS

    You idiots with the Fenty crap are laughable. At least there are renovated schools and playgrounds to show for that money.

    ALL HTJ did with his scam is typical bling for a loser. He even managed to keep pissing money away by making bad trades with the stuff he bought with the stolen money.

  • John NE

    Harry will be back. He is really sorry for his indiscretions and is looking forward to again serve to citizens of this city. Until that time, I will say prayers for you Harry.

  • NE John

    Tonight's movie in the common area is "Angels with Dirty Faces." Hope to see you there Harry.