Maryland
Maryland woman pleads guilty to embezzling $1 million, using funds for Taylor Swift tickets, luxury items
BALTIMORE — An Ellicott City woman pleaded guilty Thursday to embezzling more than $1 million from a real estate agency and using the funds to pay for vacations, Taylor Swift tickets and more, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to her guilty plea, between January 2020 and November 2023, Jennifer Tinker, 41, defrauded the real estate agency that she worked for by transferring over $1 million of company funds to her personal bank accounts, officials said.
Tinker embezzled the funds from the agency’s escrow, operating and commission accounts through wire transfers and Zelle payments, according to court officials.
She hid the transfers by listing fake recipients on the wire transfer paperwork in an effort to make it look legitimate. She would then wire the stolen money to her personal account.
Court officials said between February 2021 and November 2023, Tinker wired money to her personal accounts more than 90 times. She also made fraudulent entries in her employer’s internal accounting records to cover her transfers.
According to court officials, Tinker used the stolen funds to pay for luxury items and vacations, along with Taylor Swift tickets and five different vehicles.
In 2023, tickets to see Taylor Swift in concert were notoriously expensive and hard for fans to get their hands on, with some reportedly paying upwards of 70 times face value.
Tinker faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the federal wire fraud charges. She is scheduled for sentencing on April 10, 2024, court officials said.
Maryland
Winds ease for a seasonable weekend in Maryland
Happy Saturday, Maryland!
Today is the final day of fall and we’ll have more seasonable conditions and quieter weather this weekend.
Calmer weekend
Maryland’s peak wind gusts reached over 50 mph on Friday. As high pressure remains in control today (although it is moving offshore), we’ll have a couple of quieter days ahead the weekend.
Expect temperatures in the upper 30s to low 40s on Saturday with much calmer winds. Sunshine mixes with clouds overhead, but we stay dry.
Tonight, we could have a few more clouds as a cold front approaches. Temperatures cool into the 20s and 30s again tonight.
Ravens-Patriots forecast
Winds pick up slightly again on Sunday, as gusts could surpass 20 mph during the day. Temperatures will be a few degrees warmer, reaching the upper 40s in some neighborhoods.
It’ll be cool if you’re heading to the Ravens game on Sunday night. Kickoff temperatures will be in the low 30s and drop into the 20s through game time.
It will be dry with mainly clear skies during the game.
Holiday travel
We are in the final countdown ahead of the Christmas holiday next week. Overall, it looks like weather will cooperate with your travel plans here in Maryland.
Outside of a low risk for a shower or two with the passing cold front tomorrow, it’s dry over the next couple of days.
Our next chance of rain will come Tuesday as a pair of fronts will pass through. A few snowflakes could mix with showers Monday night into Tuesday. Accumulations are not expected at this point.
Then, the First Alert Weather team will watch another chance for a few showers Wednesday into Thursday. Santa may need the windshield wipers as he moves through on Christmas Eve. He’ll check in with the WJZ First Alert Weather team for updated timing on the late-week chance of showers, just as you should!
Temperatures later in the week will also be warming. Wednesday will be in the mid to upper 40s with Thursday and Friday warming into the 50s. Cooler air returns for the final weekend of 2025.
Maryland
Maryland dentist to serve 10 years for pill-splitting scheme with assistant
A Baltimore County dentist was sentenced to 10 years in prison after illegally distributing an opioid to one of his former employees over the course of three years.
According to the Office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown (OAG), Dr. Andrew T. Fried, DMD, a licensed dentist who owned a solo practice dental office in Nottingham, Maryland, pleaded guilty to the following charges in November:
- one count of distributing narcotics
- and one count of prescribing controlled dangerous substances outside the regular course of duties of a dentist and not within the standards of his profession related to controlled dangerous substances.
Dr. Fried prescribed Oxycodone without a legitimate reason to a former employee who worked as an assistant at Perry Hall Family Dental from April 2022 to May 2025.
Dr. Fried admitted that he and the former assistant would split the pills between themselves and that he purchased them weekly from his assistant, who got them from close family members, according to a press release from the OAG.
On Friday, AG Brown announced the charges, stating, “Every Marylander who sits in a dental chair should trust that they’re receiving competent, professional care…This sentence protects Dr. Fried’s patients from further unsafe treatment and eliminates a source of opioids in our communities.”
Baltimore opioid crisis
Oxycodone is a strong prescription painkiller that is classified as a Schedule II-Controlled Substance due to its risk of addiction, illness, and, in some cases, death.
The drug is meant to be distributed by healthcare professionals to treat moderate to severe pain when other pain medicines aren’t sufficient; however, the pills can, at times, be found on the street.
In 2019, police arrested a man after discovering 38 pills of suspected Oxycodone during a traffic stop in Glen Burnie.
In 2018, a licensed pharmacist pleaded guilty to distributing oxycodone in exchange for sexual favors.
Baltimore’s ongoing opioid epidemic is a priority for city leaders.
In October, city leaders met to discuss ways to address Baltimore’s open-air drug market after three mass overdose incidents had taken place in the Penn North neighborhood over a span of four months.
Maryland
No. 7 Maryland routs winless Central Connecticut State 98-30 despite injury issues
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Yarden Garzon scored 12 of her 25 points in the first quarter, and No. 7 Maryland routed Central Connecticut State 98-30 on Friday.
To the delight of the screaming kids in attendance for the team’s annual Field Trip Day game, Terrapins coach Brenda Frese wore a jersey with the number 67 on it before tip-off. Then Maryland nearly won by that margin.
The blowout was no surprise. Maryland entered the game as one of 12 unbeaten teams left in Division I, and Central Connecticut State was one of 10 without a victory. The Terps (13-0) scored the game’s first 10 points and led 39-14 after one quarter.
Garzon made four 3-pointers in the first period.
Oluchi Okananwa had 22 points and Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu, who appeared to hobble on her right leg before leaving the game in the fourth quarter, had 10 points and nine rebounds. Ozzy-Momodu said after the game she’s OK.
Lucia Noin led Central Connecticut State (0-11) with 12 points.
Maryland guard Saylor Poffenbarger has been dealing with an ankle injury, and she sat out Friday as a planned rest day before the team returns to conference play. The Terrapins have lost Lea Bartelme, Ava McKennie and Kaylene Smikle to season-ending knee injuries, and Bri McDaniel, who tore her ACL 11 months ago, now plans to redshirt this season.
After the Terps took a 64-18 lead, they attempted five straight 3-pointers before Garzon finally made one to gave Maryland exactly 67 points. That drew an excited response from the crowd, as expected.
Central Connecticut State: Hosts Long Island University on Jan. 2.
Maryland: Hosts Wisconsin on Dec. 29.
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