A former Harford County Councilman is not backing down from claims he was wrongfully removed from office after entering a no contest plea to felony theft charges, even after the Maryland Supreme Court rejected his case Friday.
The high court's decision ends the nearly two-year effort by Dion Guthrie, a Democrat, to overturn his removal from office.
Guthrie was removed in 2024 after pleading nolo contendere to felony theft charges from the union where he was a longtime officer. The plea, under the Maryland Constitution, triggered his immediate removal from office "by operation of law."
In a phone interview Monday, Guthrie said "it don't apply to me. You know, it mandates removal from office upon entry and acceptance of the nolo contendere plea, and in the judge's decision … he did not accept it." He railed against the ruling, his lawyer in the 2024 case, and the president of the Harford County Council.
Guthrie also noted two other cases involving members of the Harford County Council — Jacob Bennet and Aaron Penman — who were either prevented from being sworn in or removed from office and later won appeals at the Supreme Court of Maryland.
"The Supreme Court overturned both of them, and they won't hear mine," Guthrie said. "It's discrimination."
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.
Doug Gansler, a former Maryland attorney general who represented Guthrie on appeal, called the court's refusal to hear the case "stunning."
"The decision below is so clearly wrong," Gansler said Monday. "There's nobody that hears the facts of it that thinks that it was not wrongly decided, and to have the Supreme Court not even hear the case when the Constitution and 250 years of jurisprudence are exactly on the other side of it is just stunning."
It only takes three of the seven justices on the high court to agree to hear an appeal. And while there could be a request for reconsideration, Gansler acknowledged "it's the end of the case."
Guthrie's unsuccessful string of appeals followed his removal from office in 2024.
Guthrie, one of two Democrats on the seven-member council, was charged in October 2024 with one count of theft between $1,500 and $25,000 between 2017 and 2021 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1501, where he was president and business manager.
Guthrie maintained his innocence and said he had made restitution to the union. But a month later, he appeared before Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Robinson Jr. and entered a plea of nolo contendere.
A defendant who enters no contest plea does not accept responsibility for the charged crime and waives the right to a trial, agreeing to accept the punishment meted out by a judge.
Robinson during the hearing struck the "guilty verdict" and sentenced Guthrie to probation before judgment. Later that day, Guthrie was informed that his plea triggered his immediate removal.
In 2012, the Maryland General Assembly passed an amendment — approved later that year by voters — adding a provision to the law governing the removal of state and local officials. It automatically removes any elected official who enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to any felony charge or misdemeanor crimes related to the official's public duties and responsibilities.
Previously, the constitution required a "final conviction, after judicial review or otherwise," which left open a potential for some officials to remain in office pending appeals or sentences of probation before judgment, a sentence that effectively strikes the finding of guilt.
Removal is automatic on entering the plea, and is not affected by any sentence that follows, according to Harford County officials, who said at the time that they were acting on advice from the Office of the Attorney General.
But on appeal, Gansler and Guthrie asserted that Robinson did not accept Guthrie's no contest plea and he thus should not have been removed from office.
The Appellate Court reached a different conclusion saying the Robinson misspoke.
"As we read the transcript, Judge Robinson likely realized while sentencing Mr. Guthrie to probation before judgment that a guilty verdict could not stand alongside the nolo contendere plea, and therefore explained that he was 'going to strike the guilty verdict' to preserve the plea's compliance with the Rule," the Appellate Court wrote in its decision. "The broader record also supports Judge Robinson's acceptance of the plea."
Guthrie maintained his innocence in the underlying felony theft case Monday. When asked why he entered the nolo contendere plea, he said he was acting on the advice of his lawyer at the time.
"In all my years on this earth, I'm now 88 years old, I've never heard of that term," Guthrie said. He said his original attorney "advised me of it, and he said, 'Well, you put that in, it'll put this case behind you. You can be done with this. You go back to Harford County.'… You can go back to your council seat and put all this behind you."
While his appeal was pending, Guthrie ran for his old seat but lost the June primary by 29 points to Nolanda Robert, who had been picked by the county Democratic Central Committee to replace Guthrie in January 2025.
Harford County Council President Patrick Vincenti (R) said he welcomed the ruling and the resolution of the case.
"It's sad that it takes this long to put something to rest when clearly he committed a felony. He pled nolo contendere … and he was removed by the constitution by matter of law, not by me," Vincenti said. "I'm glad to see it's over."
Vincenti lamented the cost of defending against Guthrie's appeals. Guthrie said "hundreds of thousands of dollars" were spent by the council. Vincenti said a final tally was not yet available but would be made public.
"It's a shame that we have to tolerate frivolous lawsuits like this," Vincenti said. "It's overwhelmingly expensive and such a waste for the citizens of Harford County."