BALTIMORE, MD.  —  Paul Donnell Robinson, age 53, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty on June 1, 2018, in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City to Theft Scheme: $1k-$10k.  He was sentenced to five years’ incarceration with all suspended except time served and five years supervised probation. Judge Timothy Doory also ordered Robinson to pay $8,897.66 in restitution to the City of Baltimore.

Robinson was employed by the Department of Public Works as a Utility Meter Technician based at the city’s water meter facility. His responsibilities included removing old water meters and installing new water meters. When a water meter is removed from a service address, DPW procedure requires that the meter be returned to the water meter facility store room, and sold for its value as scrap metal. Employees may not take or retain meters for their own benefit.

The Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General (OIG) jointly investigated the case with agents of the City Department of Public Works and the Baltimore Police Department.  The OIG received a complaint about the theft of water meters from the storerooms of the Department of Public Works.  An investigation revealed that over less than three years, Robinson conducted 142 transactions at Maryland Recycle in which he sold brass water meters belonging to Baltimore City for his own benefit totaling $8,897.66. The most recent transactions were captured on CCTV. Agents of the Baltimore Police Department and the Office of the Inspector General interviewed Robinson, who admitted that his transactions were indeed the sale of stolen water meters belonging to Baltimore City.

Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming commended the BPD and DPW for their work in the investigation.  Former OIG Agent Peter Flack and BPD Detective Wayne Sponsky, led the investigation and Assistant Baltimore City State’s Attorney Alexander Huggins prosecuted the case.

Isabel Mercedes Cumming
Inspector General