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.
Police said Dequan Gravely, 23, of Charles County, was driving northbound on Route 210 near Pine Drive when his Mercedes collided with the school bus turning left from the southbound lanes.
The driver of a car involved in a crash with a Prince George’s County school bus in Accokeek, Maryland, on Friday has been identified.
Prince George’s County police said Dequan Gravely, 23, of Bryans Road in Charles County, was driving northbound on Route 210 near Pine Drive around 7:20 a.m. when his Mercedes collided with the school bus turning left from the southbound lanes.
Investigators said the crash happened in the intersection, causing the school bus to flip onto its side. Gravely died at the scene.
The school bus driver was transported to a hospital and treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Police said no students were on the bus at the time of the crash.
Investigators said they believe debris from the collision damaged a third vehicle. The driver of that vehicle “declined medical attention,” police said.
The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 301-731-4422.
WTOP’s Acacia James contributed to this report.
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A D.C. man won $5 million from a scratch-off lottery ticket in Maryland last week, and the matching number that netted him the prize happened to be his age.
Talk about a birthday surprise! A D.C. man won $5 million from a scratch-off lottery ticket in Maryland last week, and the matching number that netted him the prize happened to be his age.
Maurice Williams, a school bus driver in D.C., claimed the first top prize on a $5,000,000 LUXE scratch-off. He had used his $50 winnings from a previous LUXE scratch-off ticket to buy a new one the next day.
In a release from the Maryland Lottery, Williams said he didn’t know he had won until he scanned the ticket: “It’s crazy because the matching number was 59 and I just turned 59 the other day.”
Williams said he sat in shock for a while before calling his mother.
He said he plans to buy his mother a house with the winnings and then save up.
Two more top prizes from the scratch-off have yet to be claimed, the Maryland Lottery said, as well as nine $200,000 prizes, 10 $50,000 prizes and thousands of prizes ranging from $50 to $10,000.
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© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
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