A Baltimore County man admitted stealing $417,451 through a series of schemes targeting Maryland contracts and public-benefit programs, then attempting to obtain another $92,672.
Walter O’Riley Poindexter, 51, of Windsor Mill, pleaded guilty to eight charges in Baltimore County Circuit Court, according to FOX45 News.
His schemes stretched from 2020 through 2024 and involved COVID-related cleaning contracts, Port of Baltimore worker-retention grants, unemployment benefits and an attempted state income tax refund.
Poindexter pleaded guilty to three counts of procurement fraud, one count of bribery, two counts of theft and two counts of attempted theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced January 29, 2027.
COVID Cleaning Contracts Put His Company Inside the Scheme
The largest part of the case involved cleaning contracts for Maryland Department of Labor facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosecutors said more than $304,000 in contracts were improperly directed to Poindexter’s company, P-Dex LLC.
The scheme involved Ronald Van Price, who worked for the Maryland Department of Labor’s Office of General Services. According to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, Poindexter and Price manipulated the procurement process to steer state cleaning work to P-Dex.
Prosecutors said normal procurement procedures were circumvented and conflicts of interest were concealed. Poindexter and another business owner paid Price at least $88,000 in bribes in exchange for his assistance, according to the state.
Poindexter pleaded guilty to three counts of procurement fraud and one count of bribery connected to the cleaning contracts. Price was separately indicted in October 2025. His case remains separate from Poindexter’s guilty plea, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
He Also Targeted Money Intended for Port Workers
Poindexter’s fraud later reached the Maryland Department of Labor’s Port of Baltimore Worker Retention Program. The program was established after the March 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge disrupted activity at the Port of Baltimore and was intended to help businesses retain affected workers.
Prosecutors said Poindexter submitted fraudulent applications through P-Dex LLC and another company, Street Genius LLC. The applications portrayed the businesses as logistics companies connected to the port and identified employees supposedly affected by the reduction in port activity.
Authorities said neither company had the claimed connection to the port and that they did not employ the workers listed on the applications. Poindexter admitted stealing $97,500 through the program and attempting to obtain another $82,500. Those actions resulted in guilty pleas to one count of theft and one count of attempted theft.
Unemployment Benefits and a Tax Refund Added Two More Schemes
Poindexter also admitted fraudulently obtaining $15,112 in unemployment insurance benefits from the Maryland Department of Labor in 2021. Two years later, he attempted to obtain a fraudulent Maryland income tax refund worth $10,172.
He pleaded guilty to theft for the unemployment benefits and attempted theft for the tax refund. Across the different schemes, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office calculated that Poindexter successfully obtained $417,451 and attempted to take another $92,672.
He Pleaded Guilty to Eight Charges
Poindexter entered guilty pleas to three counts of procurement fraud and one bribery count tied to the COVID cleaning contracts. He also admitted one theft count and one attempted-theft count involving the Port of Baltimore Worker Retention Program, one theft count involving unemployment benefits and one attempted-theft count involving the state income tax refund.
Poindexter is scheduled to be sentenced in Baltimore County Circuit Court on January 29, 2027. His guilty plea resolves the question of criminal responsibility for the eight offenses, but the court has not yet imposed his sentence.
Businesses Should Verify Eligibility Before Seeking Public Funds
Business owners should ensure that employee names, payroll figures, business activities and other information submitted on government applications can be supported by actual records.
Employers should also monitor unemployment claims charged to their accounts. The Maryland Department of Labor allows employers to challenge fraudulent benefit charges through its unemployment insurance system and provides a process for reporting suspected unemployment fraud.
Suspected fraud involving Maryland programs should be reported to the agency administering the money or the appropriate law enforcement authority rather than corrected through additional false filings.