On September 13, 2019, Richard Perry, age 51, of Berlin, Maryland, was sentenced to 7 years’ incarceration with all but 14 months suspended after having been convicted of theft scheme over $100,000 in the Worcester County Circuit Court. In July, 2019, the Honorable Brian D. Shockley postponed sentencing to allow Perry time to gather the substantial amount of restitution owed to the victim. As a part of the plea, Perry forfeited over $30,000 seized by the Ocean City Police Department and provided a $10,000 cashier’s check to the victim. On the sentencing date, Perry provided an additional $30,000 in restitution to continue repayment to the victim. Perry will be on 5 years of supervised probation upon his release and was ordered to pay the remainder of the restitution through the Department of Parole and Probation.
The charges stem from a 2018 investigation begun by the Ocean City Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division. Police were notified by hotel management that an employee at Castle in the Sand had stolen thousands of dollars from the hotel between the years of 2015 and 2018. After an extensive forensic records audit, police were able to determine that Perry, who was at the time employed by the hotel, had stolen over $162,000 by simply taking cash payments and depositing them into his personal bank account.
Worcester County State’s Attorney Kris Heiser commended the Ocean City Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division and Detective Perry for their detailed investigation, and thanked the team at the Office of the State’s Attorney for successfully prosecuting the case.
