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Attorney General Peter Nickles is dragging beloved group home leader David Wilmot back to court to try and get his non-profit, Individual Development Inc., to pay more than $240k in fines for improperly operating its group homes for developmentally disabled residents.
Nickles filed a motion in Superior Court today asking that IDI pay the fines, plus interest and attorney fees, and be held in contempt of court for breaking a settlement agreement. The District and IDI settled last year after Nickles initially sued the company. Complaints about IDI’s treatment of its clients have been around for years. (For more info on IDI and the huge salary it pays Wilmot, see here.)
Last Friday, you may recall, Nickles ordered Wilmot to pay him by 3 p.m. Wilmot didn’t, and Nickles put into motion a plan for the District to take six group homes away from IDI by February 23. IDI filed an appeal with Nickles, as per terms of the settlement agreement, today. But Nickles says the decision about whether IDI will keep its group homes is a separate issue from the fines.
“Under the settlement agreement … they have to pay,” he says.
Nickles hinted that IDI’s officers may be trying to use their political influence to get out of paying the fines. Wilmot is one of the District’s best-paid lobbyists, and is super politically connected. He’s serving on Almost Mayor Vince Gray‘s transition team. Superlawyers Fred Cooke Jr. and A. Scott Bolden are also on IDI’s board.
“They’ve gone underground,” says Nickles. “I know from talking to people that they’ve tried politically to affect my decision, but that will not help them.” Nickles declined to be more specific.
LL has a call into Wilmot’s office and will update as needed. LL also reached out to Gray’s spokeswoman for comment. Gray’s spokeswoman Doxie McCoy says Gray has not talked with Wilmot about IDI.
Here’s the motion:
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Photo by Darrow Montgomery