Baltimore Police Officer Who Ran For Mayor Indicted

BALTIMORE, MD — A police officer who ran for the Republican nomination in Baltimore's 2020 mayoral race was indicted on charges of perjury and other crimes, according to the Office of the State Prosecutor.

Ivan Gonzalez claimed he was a resident of Baltimore City in order to run for mayor, prosecutors said. He actually lives in Baltimore County, officials allege.

To file for a mayoral run in Baltimore City, candidates must be city residents and qualified voters for at least a year preceding the election, according to city regulations. Candidates must also be at least 25 years old.

Gonzalez resides in the 200 block of Marina View Court in Essex, according to the indictment, which the state prosecutor released Monday, March 29. He has owned the Baltimore County townhome since 2016, Maryland property records show.

On his voter registration, which he filed in January 2020 the same day he applied for candidacy, Gonzalez listed a rowhouse in Canton as his residence, according to The Baltimore Sun, which reported the couple who lived there knew him but declined to answer further questions.

A grand jury indicted Gonzalez, 50, on charges of perjury, falsifying voter registration, false oath and false entry in a public record.

"The Office of the State Prosecutor is committed to ensuring the integrity and transparency of our electoral process,” Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III said in a statement Monday. "We will continue to investigate and where appropriate hold accountable anyone who is alleged to have subverted that process by knowingly providing false information to establish their qualifications as a candidate for political office."

Howard was also at the helm in the perjury case against former mayor Catherine Pugh, who was sentenced in 2020 to six months in prison.

A trial date has not yet been set for Gonzalez.

All four charges are misdemeanors. Perjury carries up to 10 years in prison; falsifying voter registration carries up to $1,000 fine or five years in prison; false oath or affirmation could result in 10 years in prison; and false entry in public records could result in $1,000 or three years in prison, according to the indictment.

Ultimately, Gonzalez did not earn the GOP nomination.

In the 2020 primary, Gonzalez netted 12 percent of the votes, coming in sixth out of eight candidates for the Republican mayoral nomination. Shannon Wright ran against Democratic nominee Brandon Scott, the City Council President who went on to win the mayoral race.