Ex-HUD Aide Pleads Not Guilty to Bribery, False Statement Charges

WASHINGTON — Deborah Gore Dean, a former top federal housing aide, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of receiving an illegal gratuity and making a false statement.

Independent counsel Arlin M. Adams said additional charges are expected against her in the investigation of alleged influence-peddling at the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Ronald Reagan Administration.

Dean, the former executive assistant to then-Housing Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr., is accused of receiving $4,000 illegally in connection with a private request for HUD funds.

She also is charged with filing a false statement, stating that she had no conflicts of interest, when a Senate committee was considering her nomination to be an assistant HUD secretary in 1987. Both counts are felonies.

U.S. District Judge Charles R. Richey set a trial date for June 3, pending any word on possible additional charges.

After her indictment Tuesday, Dean denied all wrongdoing and said the charge involving the $4,000 check was “not at all what they think it is.” She said the matter involved a friend--who has not been identified--and was unrelated to HUD business.