• FILE - In this Jan. 19, 2018, file photo, Darryl DeSousa takes questions at City Hall after replacing Kevin Davis as police commissioner, in Baltimore. DeSousa has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of failure to file taxes. The U.S. Attorney's office alleged Thursday, May 10, 2018 that DeSousa "willfully failed to file a federal return for tax years 2013, 2014, and 2015, despite having been a salaried employee of the Baltimore Police Department in each of those years." (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun via AP, File) Photo: Kim Hairston, AP / The Baltimore Sun
Photo: Kim Hairston, AP
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FILE - In this Jan. 19, 2018, file photo, Darryl DeSousa takes questions at City Hall after replacing Kevin Davis as police commissioner, in Baltimore. DeSousa has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of failure to file taxes. The U.S. Attorney's office alleged Thursday, May 10, 2018 that DeSousa "willfully failed to file a federal return for tax years 2013, 2014, and 2015, despite having been a salaried employee of the Baltimore Police Department in each of those years." (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun via AP, File) less
FILE - In this Jan. 19, 2018, file photo, Darryl DeSousa takes questions at City Hall after replacing Kevin Davis as police commissioner, in Baltimore. DeSousa has been charged with three misdemeanor counts ... more
Photo: Kim Hairston, AP

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore's police commissioner has been suspended with pay one day after being charged with three misdemeanor counts of failure to file taxes, the city's mayor announced Friday.

Although Commissioner Darryl De Sousa has been "an effective leader," his suspension "is in the best interest of the Baltimore Police Department, the City of Baltimore and him personally," Mayor Catherine Pugh said at a news conference.

Deputy Commissioner Gary Tuggle will serve as acting commissioner in the meantime, Pugh said.

On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's office alleged that De Sousa "willfully failed to file a federal return for tax years 2013, 2014, and 2015, despite having been a salaried employee of the Baltimore Police Department in each of those years."

If the charges are proven, De Sousa faces up to one year in prison and a $25,000 fine for each of the three counts.

De Sousa issued a statement Thursday admitting his failure to file federal and state taxes for those three years, but portrayed it as an oversight. He said he filed his 2016 taxes and got an extension for 2017, and is now working with a "registered tax adviser."

"While there is no excuse for my failure to fulfill my obligations as a citizen and public official, my only explanation is that I failed to sufficiently prioritize my personal affairs. Naturally, this is a source of embarrassment for me and I deeply regret any embarrassment it has caused the police department and the city of Baltimore," he said.

The city's police union president, Gene Ryan, said Thursday that the commissioner should "do the right thing by taking a leave of absence" until the federal case is resolved.

Ryan couldn't immediately be reached Friday by The Associated Press.

De Sousa was touted as a change agent when Pugh picked him earlier this year as commissioner, even though he joined the city's force in 1988. He succeeded former commissioner Kevin Davis, who spent 2 ½ years at the top job. At the time, Pugh said the leadership change was needed to oversee crime reduction strategies given the city's eye-popping violent crime rate.

De Sousa pledged to stamp out police corruption following an explosive federal investigation that exposed a task force of dirty detectives, lowering moral and deepening a deficit in public trust.

"All Baltimore citizens can be assured that these developments will in no way impede our relentless efforts to make our city safer," Pugh said in a statement Friday.