Mayor Marion Barry campaigned Saturday for a seat on the City Council despite being sentenced in federal court one day earlier to six months in prison for a drug possession conviction.
Anita Bonds, Barry's campaign manager, said the three-term mayor's bid for one of two at-large council seats would proceed as planned over the weekend."Marion Barry will continue his campaign for election to the City Council," Bonds said in a written statement. "He is taking his case directly to the voters of this community. . . . We remain confident that the voters will be right about voting for Barry on Tuesday Nov. 6."
On Friday, Barry was sentenced to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine for his conviction on a misdemeanor cocaine possession charge.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson also ordered one year's probation for Barry after his release from prison and told him to undergo periodic drug testing.
Barry remains free while he appeals the conviction.
Barry's sentencing came 2 1/2 months after a jury convicted him on a single count of drug possession, acquitted him on another and deadlocked on 12 other counts.
Because he was convicted of a misdemeanor, Barry will not be forced to relinquish his office before his term ends Jan. 2. Under city law, he also can continue his bid for the at-large City Council seat in the Nov. 6 elections.