Montgomery tax consultant pleads guilty to stealing more than $500,000
Tax consultant Paul W. Shoup Jr., 44, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court to stealing more than $500,000 from the county through a property tax scheme. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
Between 2003 and 2005, Shoup cashed 69 refund checks issued by the county’s Finance Department. During that time, Shoup was consulting the county on other issues and was able to slip through the cracks. – Freeman Klopott
Albanian police question stepson in Olney shooting
Elis Kertusha, 23, whom Montgomery County police wanted to question in relation to the shooting death of Kertusha’s stepfather, Gennaro Fato, 74, of Olney, has been found by Albanian police and is being questioned, county police said.
Fato was shot and killed in his garage Jan. 23, and police have yet to determine whether it was a random act or a targeted killing. Kertusha had lived with his mother and stepfather for seven years before leaving for Albania in December, and came forward for questioning after his family pressured him, police say. – Freeman Klopott
Wilson High School tightens security after report of gun
D.C.’s Wilson High School was on lockdown late in the day Monday after reports that a gun made it through metal detectors and inside the school, parents and officials said.
No weapon was recovered and school officials believed that security officers may have been mistaken when they thought they saw a silhouette of a gun in a bag at the security checkpoint Monday, Mafara Hobson, spokeswoman for Chancellor Michelle Rhee, said in e-mails to The Examiner.
On Monday afternoon and evening, automated phone messages went out to the homes of students alerting them of the security concern, parents said.
By Tuesday the lockdown status was canceled and the police presence had returned to normal, Hobson said. – Dena Levitz
