Two former Maryland police officers were found guilty of fraud and arson by a federal jury, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Maryland.
Former Fairmount Heights Police officer Phillip James Dupree, 41, of Pikesville, and former Prince George’s County Police officer Mark Ross Johnson, Jr., 38, of Camp Springs, were each found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, arson, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and bank fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release Friday.
The two former police officers “joined forces to commit two separate fraud schemes” that involved false police reports and loss claims used to get money from insurance companies and three different financial institutions from 2018 to 2019, according to the news release.
Dupree and Johnson burned Johnson’s Ford F-450 that had mechanical problems that needed to be fixed, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The pair then pretended to discover the vehicle while patrolling Fairmont Heights before filing a falsified impound report, then using the report information to receive reimbursement for the truck.
Johnson altered phone records to hide conversations with Dupree that took place before they pretended to find the truck. A fire investigator hired by the insurance company discovered that the F-450 was set on fire intentionally. Still, the pair received a payout of $68,000 from the insurance company for the destroyed vehicle.
Dupree and Johnson also withdrew money from ATMs, then claimed the funds were stolen to their financial institution. The pair then submitted false police reports stating that stolen debit cards in their names were used to withdraw the money from ATMs.
One report was found to be fake, as it was not submitted to Prince George’s County Police’s record management system and included the name of a non-existent officer. The former officers then reported the fraudulent claims, using the false police reports, and sought reimbursement.
Johnson and Dupree are facing 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud charges, an additional 20 years for arson and up to 30 more years for their bank fraud charges. Dupree will be sentenced on Feb. 16, while Johnson will be sentenced Feb. 23.
Have a news tip? Contact Chevall Pryce at cpryce@baltsun.com.