FORMER UMBC CONSTRUCTION MANAGER CONVICTED OF THEFT IN CURRAN’S CONTINUING CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Joseph A. Shryock, 47, of Tanglewood Rd. in Catonsville, has been convicted of felony theft in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County.

Shryock, a former Project Manager in the Construction Services Department of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County ("UMBC"), pled guilty to felony theft before the Honorable John G. Turnbull. In the court proceedings, Shryock admitted to participating in a scheme with his supervisor in April of 2003 in which they purchased bathroom fixtures for their personal residences, and the costs were improperly passed to the University through construction projects they were supervising. The University paid approximately $3,000 for Shryock’s fixtures. Shryock has agreed to cooperate in the State’s continuing investigation into corruption in the procurement process at UMBC. Sentencing is scheduled for September 27, 2006.

Attorney General Curran’s office has already charged two individuals its corruption investigation. The case was referred by the UMBC Police Department and the University System of Maryland Internal Audit Office, and is being investigated by the Attorney General’s Criminal Investigations Division and the Maryland State Police.