Former Baltimore Police Officer Keosha Buie pleaded guilty Tuesday to lighting her automobile on fire to defraud an insurance company.
Baltimore City Circuit Judge John Glynn sentenced Buie, 23, of Catonsville, to 18 months of probation and 40 hours of community service.
“She?s 23 years old and she made a poor decision,” Buie?s attorney, Bryan Mobley said. “She?s ready to get it behind her. She?s hoping this doesn?t take away from everything she?s done positive before this.”
Prosecutors dropped charges against Buie?s co-defendant, Vincent Harris, 43, of Baltimore.
Mobley said Buie?s job as a police officer helped her avoid jail.
“That worked in her favor as we fashioned the sentence,” he said. “She had one bad day, which shouldn?t take away from 23 years of doing good.”
On May 17, 2006, Buie was involved in a scheme to get rid of her 2002 Ford Taurus in order to defraud an insurance company, prosecutors said.
Fire and police officers responded to the 100 block of McPhail Street for a report of a vehicle fire at 11:55 p.m. Upon investigation and interviews with Buie ? who had reported the car stolen and filed an insurance claim ? police discovered that Buie?s stories about how the car went missing didn?t add up, according to police charging documents.
Eventually, Buie admitted she and Harris planned a scheme to burn the car in order to gain the insurance money, the police report states.
“Based on the inconsistencies in both statements by Buie, it is believed that when the scheme to get rid of the Ford Taurus was planned and executed by Buie and Harris, the burning of the car became an important part of the scheme,” Officer Steven Wagner wrote in his report of the incident.
