DIRECTOR OF CHESAPEAKE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY CHARGED WITH MISAPPROPRIATION AND GROSSLY NEGLIGENT FAILURE TO MAINTAIN RECORDS OF CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran announced today that Dianne D. Pearce of 13630 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring has been charged in Worcester County Circuit Court with fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary and grossly negligent failure to maintain records required to report activities of a charitable organization. The charging documents allege that from January 15, 1999 through April 15, 2006 Ms. Pearce appropriated money and other things of value that she held in a fiduciary capacity for the Maryland Department of the Environment to a use and purpose not in the lawful execution of her trust, and that she failed to keep accurate financial records about the activities of Chesapeake Wildlife Sanctuary Inc., a charitable organization. If convicted of all counts Ms. Pearce faces a maximum sentence of five years incarceration, three thousand dollars in fines and liability for restitution.

These charges follow a joint investigation conducted by the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Office of the Attorney General, the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Maryland State Police. No trial date has been set at this time.