The District on Tuesday identified former Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. as the D.C. lawmaker whose office contacted city officials last year about voiding traffic tickets.

In a Nov. 15 report, the District's inspector general wrote that the chief of staff to a D.C. Council member had reached out to the Department of Motor Vehicles in a bid to have 10 traffic and parking tickets dismissed. Investigators did not disclose the legislator whose office intervened.

According to the inspector general, the council aide said that the tickets should have been voided under a provision of District law that provides legislators exemptions to D.C. parking rules while they are on city business.

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The city ultimately dismissed seven tickets but allowed three citations -- all for moving violations -- to remain.

In a statement emailed to reporters, DMV spokeswoman Vanessa Newton acknowledged Thomas was the previously unidentified member. She added that Thomas' office and the relevant city departments had used "the correct process" to push back against the citations.

Thomas, who is serving a 38-month sentence at a federal prison camp in Montgomery, Ala., could not be reached for comment.

Thomas resigned from the D.C. Council in January 2012, shortly before he pleaded guilty to his role in a $353,000 embezzlement scheme.

ablinder@washingtonexaminer.com