Justice Dept. charges Weldon friend

The Justice Department has charged Cecelia Grimes, a lobbyist and good friend of former Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), with destroying evidence related to a federal probe of the ex-lawmaker.

According to court documents filed Tuesday, after talking with federal agents about her lobbying firm’s contacts with Weldon, Grimes threw her BlackBerry in a trash can near an Arby’s fast food restaurant in southeastern Pennsylvania “for the purpose of keeping the FBI from reviewing certain of her e-mails.”

{mosads}Grimes also discarded grand jury subpoenas, Amtrak receipts, airline boarding passes and RSVP cards for a dinner honoring Weldon that listed her as the contact for responses. The FBI found the items thrown out in garbage bags at Grimes’s home.

Grimes has been employed by several firms, including Grimes and Young, a joint venture with Cynthia Young, the daughter-in-law of Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), a former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

In October 2006, a month before the election, newspapers revealed that Weldon was under federal investigation for allegedly helping his daughter, Karen Weldon, obtain lucrative lobbying contracts from foreign businesses. He lost his reelection that year to Democrat Joe Sestak. The news leaked after the FBI raided the homes of his daughter and her business partner, Charles Sexton Jr.

Weldon's former chief of staff, Russell Caso Jr., pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to commit honest-services fraud. His sentence has been postponed while he cooperates with prosecutors.