court. our bruce johnson broke this story tuesday night at 11:00 and joins us live from the u.s. district court with what unfolded there today. reporter: we're talking about two felonies, theft and tax evasion charges. he's looking at 37 to 46 months. harry thomas began telling people a week ago that he expects to go to prison. tonight he's free, probably will be for the next six months. there are some travel restrictions, but after that may 3rd he's due back in court and will face a judge and likely to go away. guilty as charged is what the 51-year-old council member from ward 5 told the judge in responding to two felony counts that he stole some $350,000 earmarked for city's youth programs. >> today i want to apologize to those i let down including my constitute will notes, neighbors, friends in ward 5, the residents of this city, the mayor, my fellow council members and government

officials who serve this city tirelessly. >> time and time again mr. thomas used for his personal gain taxpayer funds that were intended to benefit this city's most important resource, it's children of. reporter: the u.s. attorney said harry thomas, jr. had help. people in nonprofits that he had identified helped kick back huge sums to thomas which he converted to his personal use. more than $58,000 for a luxury suv, nile $24,000 for a motorcycle, 19,000 for air travel and luxury vacations, $7,000 for personal clothes, $5,000 for restaurants. >> almost immediately upon taking office he made a decision that he was going to systematically steal funds. reporter: the u.s. attorney wouldn't talk about two other investigations that everybody wanted to everybody about, that is, investigations into the campaigns of the city's council chairman kwame brown and the mayor vincent gray, but the u.s. attorney sent a message

that current investigations are on the fast track. getting back to those earmarks, the question also is harry tomas clearly had some help for the illegal activities that he was involved in. while the u.s. attorney would not name names he did say those investigations are continuing. also people are wondering how far down will the u.s. attorney drill because when harry thomas came on in 2007, every council member had things earmarked for his authority. is the u.s. attorney going to look into all of that money at this point? no allegations in that area. >> thanks so much, bruce johnson. once thomas entered his plea the rest of the d.c. council met to talk about how to move forward. chairman kwame brown said the two most important issues are holding a special election and the future of the youth investment trust that thomas admitted stealing from. that special election is slated for may 5th, but brown wants it part of the april primaries to save the city some money.

in virginia a judge did not hesitate to give a grandmother the full helped sentence for killing her granddaughter. carmela de la rosa was convicted of throwing that the girl off a walkway in a local mall. peggy fox was in the courtroom and joins us now with more. reporter: before the judge handed down that sentence he asked carmela de la rosa if she had anything to say. she stood and cried and said i'm very sorry for what i've done. she apologized to her daughter, her son-in-law, her husband and her 94-year-old emotion who was there. then the judge gave her 35 years and said -- mother who was there. then the judge gave her 35 years and said what she had done was unconscionable. the 51-year-old grandmother was given the jury recommended sentence of 35 years in prison today for killing her granddaughter. she threw the toddler off a 5th foot high bridge at the tysons

corner -- 50-foot high bridge at the tysons corner center in front of the child's parents. >> fossing an innocent child off a bridge, it's hard to -- tossing an innocent child off a bridge, it's hard to imagine anything worse than that. i tossed my granddaughter off the bridge, but don't hold me responsible because i'm depressed it. just doesn't wash. reporter: de la rosa said she wanted to get back at her son- in-law for getting her unawed daughter pregnant. she even said she was jealous of the child. >> everybody loves her. i think they love her more than me. reporter: there was no question she was suffering from mental illness, but her attorney argued her condition was so severe she didn't know what she was doing at the time. >> she loved her granddaughter and would never do anything purposely to hurt her and as such, her mental illness is the only reason, the only explanation for what happened. reporter: the jury didn't buy it and neither did the judge. what do you guys think about

the sentencing? is it fair? >> a little harsh. that's it. reporter: there were about 20 family and friends of dela rosa in the courtroom hoping for a later sentence. the defense attorney said she'll a pile, but she's not hopeful anything will -- appeal, but she's not honeyful anything will change. the search is on for a man considered armed and dangerous in arlington. 43-year-old charles neal faces charges after an assault last month, but police don't know where he is. he is known to frequent the buckingham neighborhood south of boston. if you see him, please contact police. this spotsylvania county sheriff is looking for somebody as well asking for the public's help. wanted is 26-year-old jacinto hernandez andrades. he tried to abduct a 15-year- old girl in october. if you know where this man is, contact the spotsylvania sheriff's office. you do not have to give your

name. 2011 ended on a good note as far as unemployment numbers. today the labor department announced 200,000 new jobs in december bringing the unemployment rate to 8.5%, the lowest level in nearly three years. >> we're creating jobs on a consistent basis. we're not going to let up, not until everybody who wants to find a good job can find one. >> the economy has added at least 100,000 jobs for six straight months, but even at this rate only 1/3 of the jobs lost since 2008 have been regained. one piece of good news today from the president, the white house is asking for a .5% rate for all civilian employees, their first pay raise since salaries were frozen in 2010. the brady campaign is holding anti-gun violate events around the country and has launched an online campaign called too many victims where

people can leave remembrances of loved ones lost to gun violence. well, questions tonight about the results of the iowa caucuses in campaign 2012. our colleagues at the des moines register write that mitt romney may have had just two votes in one county instead of the 22 originally reported by the state gop. that would be significant because romney only beat rick santorum by eight votes statewide, but tonight the chairman of that county gop says he is confident the votes were tabulated correctly. ron paul came in third in the iowa caucuses, this ron paul. there seems to have been a bit of confusion over just who the candidate is. so much so that drag queen ru paul issued a press release about his plans to be in new hampshire tomorrow to make sure voters know he is not running for president.

ru paul? >> that's right, ron paul, big difference. okay. well, while ru paul is fighting to make sure he's not on the ballot in new hampshire, the fight over a ballot requirement in virginia is getting bigger. tonight at 7:00 the aclu jumps into the fray over the republican primary's loyalty oath. we'll tell you why it says it puts a burden on virginia rotors. still ahead to ski or to golf this weekend? you just might be able to do both without going too far away. >> i'm meteorologist topper shutt. wire putting the white away. why not? temperatures are still around 60. 63 and 33 goes in the books. we were not close to a record. that was set back in 2007 of 73. we'll come back, let you know how long we can keep this weather around. coming up a new list of the

healthiest cities in the country coming up next. >> 9 traffic now is brought to you by geico.

the nation's capital, a seat of power, but the healthiest city in the country? according to seamless.com it is an accolade the district can add to its pedigree. the food delivery website says area residents order the healthiest foods when they order online. the district has something else to be proud of tonight. according to the nation's largest moving company, the city is the most popular destination. united van lines bases its study on the more than 146,000 interstate moves it handled in the continental u.s. last year. illinois led the nation in terms of the place most people chose to leave. once you move into the city or just visit you will probably

have to pay for parking. coming up a glitch that may get you ticketed even when you fed the meter. we'll be right back.

a cometary letter for you heading into the weekend. expect -- a commuter alert for you heading into the weekend. expect delays on the red, blue and green lines this weekend. once the blue and -- i'm sorry, the blue and orange lines work will be done between smithsonian and eastern market and on the green line track work will take place between georgia avenue petworth and fort totten. everything is expected to be wrapped up by the time the system opens monday morning. tonight petro is inspecting all of its 2000 series railcars after a problem this afternoon. a disc brake fell off a train at the stadium armory station. it is similar to the problem that caused an orange line train to be evacuated last month near la enfont plaza, but

in this place a friction ring fell off a different type of railcar. don't be surprised if you see a lot of bare legs on metro this sunday and it won't be because of the weather. sunday is the annual no pants metro ride. so you can't say we haven't warned you. metro predicted it would lose about three% of its ridership when congress didn't extend the commuter tax benefit for federal workers, but now senator chuck schumer wants to reverse that. the new york democrats wants to make the tax break permanent and retroactive back to january 1st when congress takes up the payroll tax extension. the highly popular pay by phone parking has 200,000 registered users. 10,000 people use it every day in d.c., but a glitch in the system has frustrated some people after getting parking tickets by mistake. reporter: i'm surae chinn in southwest d.c. where paying for parking by phone can be convenient, but for a couple dozen people they're hitting a

roadblock. >> i've been frustrated, but i think i might have to keep using it. reporter: elizabeth stone has received three tickets so far by mistake. >> irritating to say the least. reporter: despite doing everything right by registering with the company park mobile, giving them her credit card information, she's paid more than $150 in fines and overdraft fees. >> occasionally somebody gets a ticket and we understand that can be frustrating. what we're trying to do and want people to know is that we're working to try to eliminate the problem so that it never happens. reporter: park mobile with the agencies that enforce parking, vdot and department of public works say overall the system works. only a fraction of the 10,000 daily d.c. users run into problems. >> it's either software issue or human error, more than likely a software issue. by january lots of people will be talking about hitting the slopes over the weekend, but today was just another

indication of just how mild the majority of the winter has been so far. we sent scott broom to liberty mountain in carroll county, pennsylvania, to see if people are planning to ski or golf this weekend. i do not feel sorry for you, scott. reporter: what a whacky week of weather. it was super cold early this week, so they were able to make all this snow here at liberty mountain resort and then today it pops up to 60 degrees. so yeah, call it the liberty biathalon. folks are out skiing today and planning to walk across the street and play golf. it was a dream come true for a lot of folks i talked to today. >> it's almost perfect. i can make money on both sides of the street today. >> i'm skiing in the morning and i have a 1:00 tee time this afternoon january 6, 2012.

reporter: well, since we called it a biathlon. i tried to go up the hill, come down the hill and quickly jump out of the ski gear, run across the street to the golf course and play one hole and do it in less than 30 minutes and i got it done in 29. so yeah, it was a whacky day for january 6th, no doubt about it. they've got a lot of snow here despite the warm temperatures because of all the cold earlier this week. they are looking forward to a pretty good ski weekend. a lot of folks want to enjoy that. they really weren't open for christmas time because of all the warm weather. so they're up and running and i'm live, scott broom at liberty mountain resort in carroll county, pennsylvania. back to you. >> it looked like there were a lot of people out there. >> your good friend is a skier and golfer and he always says you never have a bad day skiing. you can have a bad round of golf. >> temperatures were so gorgeous. check out this sunrise,

gorgeous, too. >> wow. >> that's from kelly. that's a nice picture. the temperatures today were 20 degrees above average. now let's look at a live shot. this is our live cam and a gorgeous evening if you're outside. isn't that a beautiful shot of the white house? temperatures 58. dew point is still 29, still dry air months, pressure steady, humidity 30 -- air mass. pressure steady, humidity 33%. temperatures around the areas, 50s, 58 rockville, 55 gaithersburg, 54 leesburg and reston 49, but everybody else mid-50s, springfield 58 downtown, 59 in college park. here's the deal. mild and then cooler, a light jacket for tonight, breezy and mild tomorrow. now there is a cold front that will roll through late tomorrow. behind it a little bit cooler sunday and looks like a storm

will pass to our south on monday, maybe some clouds. i think most of the rain and showers stay into the northern neck and also into southern maryland if it gets that far north. tonight clear skies, chilly, a one blanket night, lows in the 30s, winds out of the southwest at 10. when you're in the throes of january here and we're looking at temperatures above freezing everywhere for an overnight low, very unusual. 37 college park, 36 reston and fairfax. tomorrow morning breezy, chilly, grab your sunglasses, 30s and 40s, but a rapid bathroomup. by afternoon partly cloudy -- a rapid warm-up. by afternoon partly cloudy. even in oakland we're looking at 49. 54 in cumberland, 56 winchester, 55 in manassas and downtown looking at 57 degrees

tomorrow with sunshine. next seven days it will be a little cooler sunday, again back down to about 49. we'll put a drop in monday primarily south of town, then a beautiful day tuesday. we're back in the mid-50s, soaking rain wednesday. it's going to rain here, in chicago, detroit and up into maine. there's no cold air anywhere. however, behind that storm looks like some arctic air may get here by next friday. >> we can handle it after this run. like i was saying, a win for the wizards coming up tonight. >> you're going. >> you bet and they're going to kill them. >> really? she's very optimistic. >> somebody has to be. >> well, wizards, we're still waiting. county wizards get out of the land of donuts? by that i mean as in zero wins. penn state hires a new football coach, but wait until you here what lavar arrington has to say about his former school, not good. sports next.

and now 9 sports with dave owens, the best sports in town. >>. >> now hear. this when it's two weeks in and players are already calling players only meetings, that ain't good, but that's reality in wizardville, winless, woeful, wretch ed and here's the discouraging thing. it doesn't appear things will get better any time soon. tonight another struggling team

comes to the verizon, the knicks. they're only 2-4, so maybe there's a chance. what came out of that players only meeting yesterday? simple. man upville because there's no mercy in this business. >> in this league no one is going to feel sorry for you. no one is going to come out for you and say the wizards need a win. no. they're going to try to step on your neck and embarrass you. as a team we have to realize that and kick and claw and try to fight for a win. >> well said, mr. mason. it's time to announce our game of the week winner, a good one tonight. more than 6,000 of you voted online. blair sherwood women's basketball, 5-2 blair versus 4- 3 sherwood, highlights tonight at 11:00, good to see the girls getting into our highlight. you can't say the word penn state without thinking. it will be a long time before the university gets out from the loud of the sandusky

scandal. new england offensive coordinator bill o'brien agreed to take over the program. this is his first season as coordinator. lavar arrington, former redskins linebacker and penn state alum, now he's a local radio host at 106.7 the fan. he went on a rant today describing what's going auto at his alma mater. p -- on at his alma mater. psu is hiding something. they're way more beyond that. they have made in their minds joe paterno and the team a scapegoat. until there's a new board and leadership they can have their corrupt disgusting school that they've created. david wilson has decided he's going fro, rushed for more than 1,700 -- row, rushed for more than 1,700 yards. of course, they got beat by michigan. i'm making fun of one of our former interns in the mouse. she went to virginia tech.

natalie -- house. she went to virginia tech. >> thanks. we'll be back with wizards highlights at 11:00. that's all for 9 news now.