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Edward Scott Finn, 48, of Dunkirk, a former lieutenant with the Prince George’s County Police Department, was sentenced on Monday, May 15, to 16 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release for a tax evasion charge, according to officials.
At the time he working with the department - between December 1995 and April 2021 - Finn also owned and operated Edward Finn Inc., a private company that he failed to report income from.
Prosecutors say that from 2014 through 2021, Finn used his private company to employ off-duty officers to provide security services to apartment complexes and other businesses in the area, largely in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
Finn admitted that he underreported more than $1.3 million of income through his side hustle, depositing checks into personal bank accounts or non-business-related accounts that he had authority over.
He also created false business expenses to lower his tax due by writing checks to friends and family for purported services that were never actually performed, and used business cash to live a lavish lifestyle.
“Law enforcement officers are not above the law and we will hold them accountable—as we would anyone—for their criminal actions,” US Attorney Erik Barron said.
Finn further copped to attempting to dupe federal agents by erasing and resetting his cellphone when they arrived at his Maryland home to execute a search warrant. Once the data was gone, Finn then opened the door and his phone was recovered in the master bedroom.
“Despite Finn’s position of trust as an officer of the law, he lied and stole from the government. He used his Secondary Law Enforcement Employment (SLEE) to propel his greed,” Special Agent in Charge Thomas Sobocinski of the FBI Baltimore Field Office added. “Today’s sentence articulates financial crimes do not pay.”
In addition to the prison sentence, Finn was also ordered to pay $367,765 in restitution to the government for the total tax loss.
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