Community Corner

Severna Park Woman Sentenced for Credit Card Thefts

Patricia Kelly Murray, a principal for a Howard County High School, will spend time in jail.

A Severna Park woman and Howard County high school assistant principal will spend 90 days in prison for stealing colleagues’ credit cards, according to a spokesman for the State’s Attorney’s Office.

to stealing credit cards from a vice principal at Long Reach High School and a principal at Laurel Woods Elementary—both schools are in Howard County.

Prosecutors said Murray, who was an assistant principal at Howard High School, made eight purchases worth nearly $1,800 on Dec. 15 of last year using the vice principal’s card. In another instance, Murray used a credit card from the principal to “obtain gifts for her family.”

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On Thursday, Judge Dennis Sweeney sentenced Murray to five years in prison—suspending all but 90 days. According to Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office spokesman Wayne Kirwan, Murray will spend the 90 days at the Howard County Detention Center, followed by three years of supervised probation. 

According to Kirwan, Murray is also ordered to pay restitution to the credit card companies, pay all court costs and have no contact with the victims. 

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