Maryland authorities announced Wednesday they filed embezzlement charges against the treasurer of a Democratic political committee for Annapolis-area candidates, alleging she deposited more than $4,000 in campaign funds into a personal bank account and used them for personal expenses.
The Office of the State Prosecutor announced Wednesday they had filed an eight-count bill alleging Alexandra Gilbreath, the treasurer of Team 30 Slate, deposited funds from the committee into her personal Venmo account for an almost three-month span before and after the general election in 2018. She then used the funds for personal expenses, charging papers say.
Gilbreath, a 36-year-old former lobbyist living in Annapolis, did not return a call for comment. She did not have an attorney listed in court records.
The charges also accuse Gilbreath of failing to file or amend four campaign finance reports for the committee, which supports unified campaigning for a slate of Democratic candidates in District 30, according to its chairman, Michael Miller. District 30 encompasses Annapolis and parts of eastern and southern Anne Arundel County.
All but two of the campaigns listed as being associated with the slate are inactive.
Democratic state Sen. Sarah Elfreth, whose 2018 campaign was backed by the slate committee, said Wednesday she and other candidates affiliated with the committee had referred the matter to the state Board of Elections in 2019 “as soon as we got the sense something was not right.”
The committee is also affiliated with Anne Arundel County Council member Lisa Rodvien, a Democrat, who said she was not aware of the embezzlement allegations until reached by a reporter on Wednesday, and that she was hopeful the funds could be recovered through the criminal case.
Miller, a renewable energy CEO and Democratic fundraiser, said Wednesday he was not aware of specific misappropriations and had not yet seen the criminal charges, but noted he had been previously contacted by the state regarding certain transactions that “didn’t make sense.”
Miller formed the slate committee in 2010, and Gilbreath became the treasurer in 2014, while she worked as then-Speaker Michael Busch’s campaign manager, according to campaign finance records.
In addition to the embezzlement and reporting offenses, Gilbreath is charged with theft scheme and perjury counts. She is scheduled for an arraignment in Anne Arundel Circuit Court on May 23, according to court records.