A Milwaukee County official who faces charges after he allegedly accepted a bribe as part of a sting operation has suspended his campaign for Milwaukee comptroller.

The Milwaukee County district attorney’s office filed a criminal complaint Thursday against John Thomas, 18th District Milwaukee County supervisor, saying he received money on Dec. 6, 2011, to place an item on an agenda of the Milwaukee County Board’s Finance Committee.

Thomas, who is the chairman of the Committee on Finance and Audit, also allegedly recommended that Milwaukee County award a government contract for general obligation bonds and general airport revenues to the Public Financial Management Corporation.

According to a statement from the Milwaukee DA’s office, Thomas faces two felony charges of accepting a bribe and misconduct while in office.

Attention was first brought to Thomas in the fall of 2011 by members of Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele’s staff, according to the statement by the DA’s office.

According to the complaint, Patrick Farley, one of Abele’s staffers, allegedly gave Thomas an envelope with $500 enclosed as part of a sting operation to secure the approval of the contract.

Farley allegedly offered Thomas a second installment of $500 if the contract was successful.

Thomas, who was also running for Milwaukee city comptroller, cancelled his campaign to fight the allegations, according to a campaign statement.

However, according to the statement, Thomas’ service as the 18th District supervisor will continue until the end of his term.

Thomas’ attorney, Michael Maistelmann, insisted on his client’s innocence.

“Johnny is innocent, and when this all plays out, the public will see that he didn’t do anything wrong,” Maistelmann said.

Maistelmann said he advised Thomas to stop his campaign. He said Thomas is taking the charges very seriously and is focusing all his energy on fighting them and supporting his family at this time.

Maistelmann also said he was disappointed in the DA’s office.

“The DA has unfortunately taken unrelated events and forced an unreasonably negative and false story on top of the facts,” Maistelmann said in a statement Thursday.

Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway said in a statement he was surprised by the allegations against Thomas.

“As chairman of the board, I am shocked and saddened by the nature of the charges made public this afternoon against Supervisor Johnny L. Thomas,” Holloway said in a statement. “I had no knowledge of the case against Supervisor Thomas until it was revealed today.”

However, Holloway said Thomas remains innocent until proven guilty and that his case should work through the justice system. He said if the accusations are true, he would be very disappointed.

These allegations have raised questions in the minds of Thomas’ fellow coworkers, including 6th District Milwaukee County Supervisor Joe Rice, who sent a letter to Holloway asking for Thomas’ removal as chairman of the Committee on Finance and Audit.

“I took this step because it is critically important that the citizens of Milwaukee County be assured that county government is free of corruption and that business is done in the public interest,” Rice said in an email to The Badger Herald.