D.C. Mayor Barry Pleads Not Guilty : He Faces 20 Years Prison on Cocaine, Perjury Charges

Mayor Marion Barry of Washington, looking jaunty despite mounting legal woes, pleaded not guilty to cocaine and perjury charges today and left town for more alcohol-abuse care in the latest chapter of a running political melodrama.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Jackson set June 4 for a trial date after Barry’s lawyer entered the not guilty pleas to five counts of cocaine use in 1988 and 1989 and three counts of lying to a grand jury as to whether the mayor had ever used drugs.

Conviction on all eight charges could carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of $1.25 million.

“We are not plea-bargaining (for a lighter sentence) and the mayor is not considering resigning,” Barry’s lawyer, R. Kenneth Mundy, told reporters. “We will be vindicated.”

Barry has branded the indictment a “political lynching.”

Barry looked sharp and breezy as he arrived at the courtroom this morning in a conservative gray suit and burgundy tie.

After the four-minute plea proceeding, the judge released Barry on his own recognizance, without restrictions, so he could return to Fenwick Hall Clinic near Charleston, S.C.

Barry originally entered a Florida clinic for treatment of what was described as alcoholism Jan. 22, and a month later entered the Fenwick Hall facility for further treatment.

Barry is in his 12th year in office and had planned to announce a run for a third four-year term before his cocaine “sting” arrest Jan. 18 at the hotel where he was lured by former fashion model Hazel (Rasheeda) Moore. She says she was once Barry’s lover and was working for federal agents in the sting.

Barry has put his reelection plans on hold. Although most political analysts doubt that he could mount a successful comeback at this point, he has defied predictions of doom before and polls show him gradually regaining some strength among voters.

A federal grand jury is continuing an investigation of possible Barry administration corruption in the awarding of city contracts.