Former Berlin Town Administrator pleads guilty in fraud investigation

BERLIN, Md. – A recently retired Town Administrator for the Town of Berlin has pleaded guilty following a fraud investigation

Earlier this week, Jeffery Fleetwood pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement and was sentenced to six months in jail with five months suspended. Upon release, Fleetwood will be on one year of unsupervised probation.

Fleetwood recently retired from his position and it was discovered during a recent audit that there were discrepancies involving Fleetwood’s leave balances. Further investigation revealed that between October 2021 and April 2022, an additional 240 hours of sick leave and an additional 80 hours of vacation leave were added to Fleetwood’s leave and earning statement. It was discovered that the total amount paid out to Fleetwood as a result of the additional leave was roughly $17,520.

Fleetwood was charged last month with six counts of forgery of private documents, theft $1500 to under $25000, and theft scheme $1500 to under $25000.