Howard High Official Accused of Stealing Credit Cards
Patricia Kelly Murray is charged with stealing from colleagues.
An assistant principal at Howard High School is facing nearly 20 charges in three cases for credit card fraud, according to court records.
Patricia Kelly Murray, 40, admitted to stealing the cards from colleagues and using one of them to buy Christmas gifts for her family, the Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday.
Murray allegedly stole a credit card from Susan Pennypacker Brown, principal at Laurel Woods Elementary School, during a meeting with a parent and child, according to reports.
According to the Sun, Murray is also accused of stealing a credit card from Long Reach High School Assistant Principal Shawn Hastings-Hauf and one from Amanda Malone, listed on HCPSS.org as a teacher at Harper's Choice Middle School.
Court records show Murray, of Severna Park, is charged with spending more than $4,000 on the cards.
Howard County Public School System Spokeswoman Patti Caplan told the Sun that Murray has been on administrative leave since late January.
In August of last year, former Howard County Public Schools information technician Tina Marie Eiser, of Glen Burnie, was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing more than $200,000 in computer equipment and reselling it on the online auction site eBay.
Nonlinear
2:48 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control, no dark sarcasm in the classroom. Hey, prosecutor leave that teach alone.
Remmy
5:28 pm on Monday, March 12, 2012
I hope we are not forced to pay for Patricia Murray's retirement. Please stand-up to do the "Right" thing remove her retirement benefits - I do not care if she has "tenure" - "Tenure" is not a reason for Ms. Murray to live the high life after jail. Guess the County's benefits were not enough for this woman (criminal). She did not pay into Social Security (we pay that for her), we pay her health insurance, and we pay the majority of her retirement, plus we pay her salary. This disgusts the public who pay taxes to employ this criminal. Where was the vetting process for this woman? This incident is SICKENING to the public who financially support this criminal. Remove her - DO NOT KEEP her on Administrative leave. Administrative leave is leave with PAY - WHAT!!!!!!! - No Pay - No Retirement for Criminals in the system. ENOUGH SAID.
Remmy
5:53 pm on Monday, March 12, 2012
Just read an article about this woman and she is on Paid Administrative Leave - WHAT!!!!!!!!! Paid to steal from others and keep her position within the school system. ONLY IN THE HOWARD COUNTY EDUCATION SYSTEM. Paid Criminals. You should be ashamed this woman has been paid since January. Again, I suggest you need to vet her - background checks are valuable.
i won't give my name
4:47 pm on Thursday, June 7, 2012
This woman is terrible but you do not pay our social security and health insurance we pay our own.
I won't give my name either
2:35 pm on Sunday, August 5, 2012
This woman is terrible? Do you know her? Have we even heard from her?
Jack
12:29 am on Friday, June 8, 2012
"Where was the vetting process for" The question is where is the vetting process for any of these people and where is the oversight? Now that is a challenging question.
Rylecath
7:09 pm on Thursday, October 18, 2012
I hope something equally terrible happens to you people. I hope people write disgusting and ignorant things about you based on what they read on news blogs. I hope you make a mistake and the news media makes you out to be a monster. I hope the public wants to lynch you and your family and destroys any chance of reclaiming your career. Maybe then, you'll have a little more compassion and empathy for what this woman is going through.