Baltimore, Nov 8 (THAINDIAN NEWS) After a long 4-year probe, the Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon is all set to face graft charges and be the star of a trial centered on her. The charges against her are that she stole gift cards from needy and poor Baltimore families and then knowingly used those cards to buy clothes and electronics for her family and friends.

It is a very serious allegation that she has always denied since she got indicted in January. Since her days as the City Council President, the investigation hasn’t let her have peace of mind. “A lot of truth will come out,” Dixon said, referring to the trial.

At the trial, a lot is at stake for the Mayor, if she loses then she would have to forgo her roughly $83,000 annual pension. She could be debt-ridden by the fees of her seven defense attorneys. And she may have to face some jail time as well. And in case, she wins then also she can’t rest in peace as, she faces a second trial on two perjury charges.

“She’s got this dark cloud hanging over her,” said former Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke. “It’s got to be cleared up for her to be the most effective mayor that she can be.”

“She’s going to need to. Absolutely, positively,” said Brown, who is considered one of the city’s best trial lawyers and is not connected to her defense. “She is going to have to talk to them. Not talk down to them.”