Michael Myers (Pennsylvania politician)

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters". Michael Joseph "Ozzie" Myers (born May 4, 1943) is an American politician and convicted felon who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1976 to 1980. A member of the Democratic Party, Myers became involved in the Abscam scandal during his tenure in Congress and was expelled from the House after being caught taking bribes in a sting operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He spent three years in federal prison.

Early life

Myers was born on May 4, 1943, in Philadelphia, the son of Margaret (Sullivan) and Mark Myers.^[1] In 1963, Myers was arrested for burglary but was later acquitted.^[2]

Political career

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

In December 1970, a cousin of Myers named Michael Joseph Sullivan (who later served as an election judge while incarcerated), shot and killed a construction worker during a union dispute. It was revealed in 1974 by The Philadelphia Inquirer that Myers was in possession of the gun used in the shooting while he himself was lobbying against Philadelphia's gun registration law.^[3]^[4] In August 1975, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted 176–1 in favor of removing representative Leonard Sweeney after he was sentenced to three years in prison for his involvement in a phony accident organization with Myers as the only nay.^[5]

In 1975, the state legislature was voting on an appropriations bill to allocate $23 million for Philadelphia's United States Bicentennial celebrations, but was defeated on October 15. The bill was brought up for another vote by Myers who was told by Appropriations Committee chairman Stephen Wojdak to send it back to the Committee, but Myers stated that the bill had enough support to pass and put it up for a vote. The bill was defeated with 107–88 voting to reject it.^[6]

U.S. House of Representatives

File:ABSCAM-FBI.jpg

U.S. Representative Michael Myers, second from left, holds an envelope containing $50,000 that he just received from undercover FBI Agent Anthony Amoroso.

On July 2, 1976, Myers was given the Democratic nomination to run in the special election to fill the first congressional district seat following William A. Barrett's death.^[2] In 1979, representative Ronald M. Mottl proposed a constitutional amendment that would ban forced busing and Myers supported the amendment.^[7]^[8]

In 1979, Myers punched and kicked a security guard and a 19-year-old female cashier in an elevator leading from the rooftop lounge of a Quality Inn motel in Arlington, Virginia. Myers became combative after they told him to turn down the music at a party he was having in the motel, shouting, "I'm a congressman: we don't have to be quiet." He was subsequently charged with assault and battery,^[9] and eventually pleaded no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct three months later. He received a six-month suspended sentence.^[10]^[11]

Myers was involved in the Abscam scandal. He was videotaped accepting a bribe of $50,000 from undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on August 22, 1979.^[12] On that tape, Myers is recorded saying that "money talks in this business and bullshit walks."^[13] Myers was expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives on October 2, 1980, by a vote of 376–30, becoming the first member of the House to be expelled since the Civil War.^[14] Myers was defeated by independent politician Thomas M. Foglietta in the 1980 election. Myers was then convicted of bribery and conspiracy and sentenced to three years in prison in 1981.^[15]

Later life

After release, Myers started his own political consulting firm.^[16]

Myers was accused of conspiring to violate voting rights by fraudulently stuffing the ballot boxes for Democratic candidates in the 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 elections.^[17] He was charged on July 21, 2020, with bribery of an election official, falsification of records, voting more than once in federal elections, and obstruction of justice.^[18]

The charges included conspiring with and bribing Domenick J. Demuro, the former judge of elections for the 39th ward, 36th division. Demuro pleaded guilty in May 2020 in federal court in Philadelphia that he was responsible for overseeing the entire election process and all voter activities of his division in accordance with federal and state election laws.^[19] On June 6, 2022, Myers pled guilty to those new charges.^[20] On September 27, 2022, he was sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison by judge Paul S. Diamond.^[21]