Suspended Prince George’s County Police Officer Indicted On Federal Mail Fraud Charges

March 19, 2018

A federal grand jury has indicted Adrian Brown, 33, of Laurel, Maryland, today on mail fraud charges related to a scheme to defraud an automobile insurance company. The indictment was returned on March 14, 2018, and unsealed today upon the arrest of Brown.

The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; and Chief Henry P. Stawinksi III of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to the two-count indictment, between September 2014 and January 2015, Brown allegedly made false statements to the insurance company claiming he owned a Chevrolet Caprice and that it had been stolen from an apartment complex in Maryland. However, Brown never owned the vehicle. Brown then filed an incident report with the Prince George’s County Police documenting the purported theft. During the course of the insurance investigation, Brown made several false statements about the purchasing and theft of the vehicle.

Brown faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI and Prince George’s Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Menaka S. Kalaskar and Ray D. McKenzie, who are prosecuting the case.

Senior investigators with our Internal Affairs Division and agents from the Baltimore field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation in the fall of 2015 at which time Brown’s police powers were suspended.

Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said, “This represents the conclusion of a more than three year investigation.  It illustrates the fact that this department takes accountability extraordinarily seriously.   The conduct of this individual does not represent the integrity of the men and women of this institution.”

Brown was taken into custody today and was placed on administrative leave without pay.