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“These are public
records available to anyone who asks for them,” Mr. Ortiz said, “but
no one’s ever bothered to check before.
These documents show that Mr. Milde’s stories about his criminal
record just don’t add up and they paint a disturbing picture of repeated
unlawful behavior and fiscal irresponsibility.”
Ortiz also noted that since this was a partial review of the
records, Milde’s offenses
may well be even more extensive.
Four years ago, voters
were unaware of Paul Milde’s criminal record when he won the Republican
nomination. Milde’s 1986
felony conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and
his 1995 conviction for a burglary related offense came to public light
during the general election campaign. These revelations divided the
Republican Party (Stafford
GOP Divided Over Role of Candidate's Criminal Record, Washington
Post, 9/15/2005). Some
members felt that Milde had not been up front about his past, others
thought the nature of his crimes was troubling (“Milde
addresses his ’86 drug conviction,” Fredericksburg
Free Lance-Star, 9/16/2005; “Topsy
turvey supervisor race jars Stafford voters,” Fredericksburg
Free Lance-Star, 10/19/2005).
Milde claimed he had
changed, and that by raising issues from his past his opponent was using
smear tactics (“Milde:
‘It’s a smear’,”
Fredericksburg
Free Lance-Star, 11/3/2005). He
held on to win the election, in part by spending far more on his
campaign—over $100,000—than any candidate ever has for a Stafford
County office. (In recent
years, expenditures by candidates for the Supervisors’ office have
typically totaled no more than $20,000—and are often less than half of
that.)
Back then, Milde claimed
that his misdeeds were limited to a troubled period of his life when he
struggled with drug addiction. In a contrite letter to voters (11/4/2005)
he claimed to have turned his life around and to now have a successful
business.
The newly released legal
documents tell a very different story.
Paul Milde’s legal
troubles as an adult did indeed begin in 1986 with his felony drug
conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, which
resulted in a six year sentence—one year in the state penitentiary and
five years on supervised probation. (The records of any legal troubles
Milde might have had as a minor are not publicly available.)
Milde’s second felony
charge, for possession of a weapon as a convicted felon, occurred in 1993
shortly after the end of his probation; court documents are no longer
available for that charge and the exact nature of the court disposition of
“other” is unknown.
A year later, he was
arrested and charged with three felonies for (1) attempted statutory
burglary, (2) possession of burglary tools, and (3) possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon. A
plea bargain resulted in a misdemeanor burglary conviction for which he
served brief jail time and another year of probation.
Here is where Milde’s
claims and the legal record diverge. Rather
than end with those early convictions, as Milde’s past statements have
suggested, his record of legal troubles continues for another 15 years,
right up to the penalties and interest he paid in 2009 for late payment of
Stafford
County
real estate property taxes.
Court records reveal:
- Seven
misdemeanor convictions from 1994 to 2000.
These include reckless driving, rail fare evasion, and
possession of a suspended operator’s license, as well as the
already-known burglary conviction.
- Eleven
IRS liens between 1994 and 2007, ranging in amounts from $573 to
$17,228 for unpaid federal taxes totaling $75,116, assessed against
both Paul Milde (individually) and his two companies (Closet Interiors
and Closet Interiors Plus). These
liens are entered after the IRS has made demands for payment and the
taxes remain unpaid. $23,943 of the liens was assessed against
Milde’s company in 2007—after he had been in office for over a
year. At least six of these liens were released after
“satisfaction” (presumably payment).
- Six
court judgments from 1994 to 2001 against Milde individually and his
businesses for unpaid debts which ranged in value from $461 to $5,168.
These judgments are entered when a judge has determined that a
debtor owes money to a creditor and has not responded to requests for
payment. At least four of these liens were released after payment.
- A
$157,000 lawsuit in 2006 (Milde’s first year in office) against
Milde individually and his business McMillion and Milde, LLC (of which
he is the only member), now known as Milde LLC. In court documents,
Milde admits to owing $140,000 but disputes the remaining $17,000. The
court case is still open in Stafford Circuit Court.
- Five
mechanics liens in 2006 (Milde’s first year in office), ranging in
value from $1,990 to $53,739 and totaling $114,221. These liens are
usually recorded by contractors or subcontractors who have not been
paid for material or services rendered.
All of these liens were entered against Milde’s property
owned by Milde through his development company, McMillion & Milde,
LLC for work done on his condominium project at
Garrison Woods Drive
,
Stafford
. Four of these liens were released after payment.
- At
least five traffic violations for speeding.
While relatively minor, these speeding violations—coupled
with the more serious misdemeanor reckless driving conviction and
three misdemeanor speeding convictions—perhaps shed light on an
incident that occurred after Mr. Milde took office. In 2007, he
flipped over his SUV when he drove it off the road and down a steep
embankment on a curved stretch of
Brooke Road
. At the time, Milde
claimed a second car was to blame for his accident; no other vehicle
was ever found (
"Stafford
supervisor flips SUV over bank," Fredericksburg
Free Lance-Star, 5/12/2007).
A review of County tax
records indicates an equally irresponsible pattern of financial
mismanagement by Mr. Milde. The County assesses two types of property
taxes: real estate property taxes (what most people just call “property
taxes”), and personal property taxes (on property such as boats or
cars).
For three of his last
four years on the Board of Supervisor, Milde failed to pay his County real
estate property taxes on time, accumulating thousands of dollars in
penalties and interest for late payments.
- In
2004, Milde purchased an investment property on
Jefferson Davis Highway
. During three years of ownership, he never paid the property taxes on
time. In fact, he only paid taxes two years after they were due,
perhaps in order to avoid the County auctioning the property to pay
off the taxes. When Milde sold the property less than a year ago in
December 2008, he owed over $7,000 in back taxes, penalties and
interest.
- Since
purchasing in April 2004 the property where he now lives, Milde has
been late paying his real estate property taxes two times, failing to
make payments for 6 months to more than a year after the taxes were
due.
- Between
2002 and 2009, Milde (through his company McMillion & Milde, LLC)
developed a parcel of land into condominiums. Property taxes on the
original parcel and subsequently built condominium units were rarely
paid on time. For example, between 2007 and 2009 Milde was late paying
property taxes at least 37 times on at least seven different parcels.
- Between
1994 and 2009, Milde was late at least 22 times paying his personal
property taxes to Stafford County, sometimes not paying his taxes
until years later. It appears that he never paid the County $1,217.05
for personal property taxes due in 1993 and 1994.
The lengthy legal record
contradicts one of Paul Milde’s major assertions in his campaign
literature: that he is a “successful businessman.”
Though that phrase can be interpreted in a variety of ways, the
repeated non-payment of taxes and non-payment of debt by his various
companies would seem to run counter to any reasonable definition of a
successfully run business.
As a private citizen, Mr.
Milde’s continuing tax and debt troubles would not normally be the stuff
of public inquiry. But by
placing his business credentials at the core of his campaign, and seeking
to hold a pubic office that helps establish tax rates for citizens and
determines how taxpayer dollars are spent, Milde’s ironic failure to pay
his own taxes on time seems inappropriate, at the very least. This is
especially true for his repeatedly late payment of local real estate
property taxes, which resulted in the issuance of thousands of dollars in
penalties and late fees between 2002 and 2009. For taxpayers, Mr.
Milde’s financial mismanagement raises questions about his competence to
handle fiscal matters, a central part of his job as Supervisor.
Referring to Milde’s
original election bid four years ago, Paul Ortiz asked, “How can someone
spend nearly $90,000 of his own money to get elected while not paying his
taxes? And then, once in
office, he helped set tax rates for everyone else but didn’t bother to
pay his own taxes on time? That’s
just irresponsible. ”
Ortiz, a 30-year retired
marine whose work experience in the US Marine Corps included successfully
managing a billion-dollar budget, returned to a major campaign theme,
concluding, “On November 3, voters have a chance to clean house in the
Aquia District, bring in some fiscal responsibility to protect taxpayers,
and restore integrity to the office of Supervisor.”
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