September 23, 2021: Two Additional Baltimore Correctional Employees Plead Guilty, Making a Total of Eight Correctional Employees Convicted of Charges Related to Theft of over $400,000 Dollars of State Funds.
Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton Howard announced today that Ms. Kimberly Brown a former Correctional Officer assigned to the Metropolitan Transition Center (MTC) in Baltimore, pleaded guilty on September 23, 2021, in Baltimore County Circuit Court to charges of Felony Theft Scheme and Misconduct in Office. Ms. Shantil Carter, a former Fiscal Technician assigned to MTC, pleaded guilty the same day to charges of Conspiracy to Commit Theft and Bribery.
In addition to Ms. Brown and Ms. Carter, 6 other former Correctional Officers have previously been convicted by the Office of the State Prosecutor of similar charges in the last 5 months.
Ms. Brown was sentenced by the Hon. Robert E. Cahill, Jr. to 5 years’ incarceration, all suspended, and 3 years’ probation. Ms. Brown was also ordered to pay $79,857.69 in restitution to the State of Maryland.
Ms. Carter was sentenced by the Hon. Robert E. Cahill, Jr. to 3 years’ incarceration, all but 60 days suspended, as well as a $10,000 fine on Conspiracy to Commit Felony Theft and 3 years’ incarceration, all suspended, as well as a $10,000 fine on one count of Bribery and 3 years’ probation.
As part of the statement of facts accompanying their pleas, Ms. Brown and Ms. Carter acknowledged that during their employment as Correctional Officers for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services they were prohibited from making changes to their documented work hours in the human resources management program Workday. Ms. Brown, however, exploited a flaw in the Workday mobile application to add hours to their timesheets that they did not work. Ms. Carter, in her capacity as a Fiscal Technician at MTC, conspired with other officers to use her access to the Workday system to illegally inflate their workhours, in return for payments of several thousands of dollars.
Ms. Brown improperly inflated her own documented work hours on at least thirty-one (31) occasions, claiming an additional 2,470 hours that she did not work. Her fraudulent reporting resulted in a collective theft of $79,857.69 from the State of Maryland.
Ms. Carter improperly inflated the documented work hours for another Correctional Officer on at least one hundred and sixty three (163) occasions, resulting in a collective overpayment to the Correctional Officer of $33,858.00 from the State of Maryland. For her illegal efforts, Ms. Carter was paid approximately $4,910 by the Correctional Officer.
“Ms. Brown and Ms. Carter abused their positions of trust to steal money from Maryland taxpayers,” said Howard. “They, as well as 6 other Correctional Employees engaged in similar acts, have now been held accountable. In addition to other penalties, the 8 individuals involved have orders of restitution totaling $443,625.40. Our office will continue to investigate and where appropriate prosecute any allegation of criminal behavior by state or local public officials.”
“This was an outstanding cooperative investigation by DPSCS detectives and the State Prosecutor. We are committed to rooting out any vestige of fraud and corruption because our hardworking correctional employees deserve better,” said Robert Green, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Mr. Howard thanked Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Lindsay Bird, Office of the State Prosecutor Special Agent Daniel Bralove, and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services for their collaboration in this effort. Below are links to the agreed Statement of Facts submitted as part of the pleas.
Click HERE to view the Statement of Facts for Kimberly Brown
Click HERE to view the Statement of Facts for Shantil Carter