By Deborah Rudacille

On a rainy morning in early December, the mood in Baltimore’s barber shops and beauty salons is subdued. The day after Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon was convicted of one misdemeanor count of embezzling about $500 worth of gift cards intended for the city’s needy, her political fate remains uncertain and shop owners and customers seem torn about the verdict.

Though few dispute the mayor’s guilt, some are frustrated that the city’s first female chief executive may be forced to step down for what they view as a paltry sum. And many are angry that city taxpayers will be forced to foot the cost, estimated at $2 million, of the prosecution.

“I think we wasted a lot of money on that trial,” said Tony Wheatley, 41, owner of TGQ Cutz in Baltimore’s Govans neighborhood. “I know the principal is important but the city is supposed to be broke. People are getting laid-off and furloughed and we’re spending all this money on $500 worth of gift cards? I don’t see it.”

The proprietor of a corner shop a few blocks away, Shawn, (who asked a reporter not to use his last name or the name of his business) approved the verdict in the case but wondered if the result was worth the cost. “If she was caught doing this, then the result is fair,” he said. “But I have a problem with spending two million dollars for $500 bucks [in gift cards]. We need to keep a balance. ”

The charges, which stem from Dixon’s tenure as city council president prior to assuming the office of mayor in 2007, were based on her use of Best Buy, Target and other gift cards donated to the city for needy families for personal purchases. The mostly African-American jury of nine women and three men wrestled with the evidence for seven days before reaching a verdict in the case. Dixon was acquitted of three of the charges, including the most serious charge of felony theft, and convicted of one misdemeanor charge of embezzlement. The jury deadlocked on a final misdemeanor charge.

Jurors in the case willing to speak to the media after the verdict was announced told Baltimore Sun reporters that Dixon’s abuse of public trust, not the dollar amount at stake, was the deciding factor in their decision.

“I think the jury was correct in their verdict,” said 59-year-old Timothy Smith, sweeping up hair cuttings at 43rd Flavor on Greenmount Avenue. “She was at fault. She should have had enough political knowledge to know you shouldn’t take gifts that seem suspicious.”

The manner in which the cards found their way into Dixon’s hands, however, makes him suspicious. “The way that the cards were given to her—stuffed in an envelope with her name on it—could have been a set-up,” he suggested.

Dixon solicited the gift cards from prominent local developers working on city projects between 2003 and 2006. The cards were intended as charitable donations for the poor and many such cards did wind up in the hands of needy individuals and families. Others were spent by city employees and Dixon herself. She was ultimately convicted of spending 19 of 20 Best Buy and Target gift cards days after they were delivered to her office by developer Patrick Turner in 2005.

Dixon’s attorneys argued that she had assumed the cards were a personal gift from her then-boyfriend, developer Ronald H. Lipscomb, but the jury didn’t buy that argument. Lipscomb too had contributed cards to the charity program that were allegedly misappropriated by Dixon and he was scheduled to testify at the mayor’s trial but the prosecution never called him as a witness.

The mayor faces a second trial in March 2010 for failing to disclose other gifts (e.g. a fur coat) from Lipscomb, who was awarded lucrative city tax credits while romantically involved with Dixon.

One of the mayor’s defense attorneys, Warren Brown, admitted in a television interview that information that came to light at the trial about developers dropping envelopes full of gift cards off at City Hall reflected badly not only on Dixon but on the city. “It sounds like something out of a Humphrey Bogart movie,” he said.

But Dixon’s supporters argue that she has been unfairly singled out and punished for a common transgression. “She’s not the only person involved in some form of corruption,” said Debbie Moore, 45, as she came out from under the dryer at Sassy Divah hair salon in Northeast Baltimore. “I’m not saying that she’s not guilty but what caused this [prosecution] to come about?”

Cynthia, 60, a customer at TGQ Cutz also felt that Dixon was no better nor worse than the average politician. “I feel as though what she did wasn’t right but it’s not something others haven’t done in the past. She just got caught.”

But Angel, 26, a stylist at Sassy Divah in Northeast Baltimore, disagreed. “When you are in a certain light, you have to be mindful of what you do,” she said. “This was blown up because of who she is. We all make mistakes but because she took that oath she is not in the same bracket as us.”

In fact, citizens accused of a similar transgression would face much stiffer penalties, argued a young woman customer at 43rd Flavor, who preferred not to give her name because she is a city employee. “If I stole $500 from somebody, I’d be in jail,” she said, lifting a carton of fries out of a McDonald’s bag. Dragging his broom along the floor, Smith raised his head and nodded. “If it had been one of us here, we’d be incarcerated.”

No matter how you cut it, the conviction is another black eye for the city, said Terry, 28, receptionist at the American Beauty Academy in northeast Baltimore. “This is going to go down in history,” she said. “The first African-American woman mayor convicted. The city of Baltimore is scarred.”

Deborah Rudacille is a freelance writer living in Baltimore. Her book Roots of Steel will be published by Pantheon Books in 2010.