Walter Orlinsky

Walter "Wally" S. Orlinsky (May 19, 1938 - February 9, 2002) was an American politician who served in public office in the city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland. A Democrat, he was the president of the Baltimore City Council from 1971 to 1982, when he resigned after being charged with extortion.[1] Before being elected the City Council President, he served as a delegate to the Maryland House of Delegates from 1967 to 1968. Orlinsky was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Maryland in 1978.

After accepting a cash bribe in 1982 from a hauler which sought a city contract to transport sludge to Western Maryland, Orlinsky pled guilty to one charge of extortion.[2] He was sentenced to 6 months in prison, of which he served 4+1⁄2 months in the Allenwood Federal Prison.[3] Orlinsky received a pardon from President Bill Clinton in 2000. After his release from prison Orlinsky worked as a restaurant maître d', a vendor at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and executive director of a tree-planting program of the Maryland Forest Service. He died of cancer in 2002.[4]

The son of Harry Orlinsky and Donya (née Fein) Orlinsky, Walter was born in Baltimore in 1938. He attended Johns Hopkins University, where he participated with a group of student activists who unsuccessfully sought to integrate the nearby Blue Jay Restaurant by bringing Duke Ellington there after a concert on February 22, 1960.[5] Orlinsky attended University of Maryland Law School, and was admitted to practice law in Maryland in 1965.[4][6]