Former Maryland Health Department Police Captain Pleads Guilty To Misconduct In Office

BALTIMORE — Former Maryland Department of Health (MDH) Police Captain Astarte Hunt pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of misconduct in office, the Office of the Maryland State Prosecutor announced. Circuit Court Judge Garret P. Glennon Jr. accepted the plea. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 18 in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Hunt, who joined the MDH Police Department in 2016 and was promoted to captain in 2022, admitted to falsifying timesheets and misusing a state-owned vehicle between January and May 2025.

According to the statement of facts presented in court, Hunt’s regular shift ran from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Spring Grove Hospital in Catonsville. During that same period, she was enrolled in classes at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), attending sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 to 11:15 a.m. and 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. The university’s Spring 2025 term ran from Jan. 27 to May 13, and Hunt earned her bachelor’s degree on May 20, 2025.

Prosecutors said that while attending those classes, Hunt submitted timesheets in the state’s Workday system indicating she was on duty. She was paid roughly $5,140 in salary during hours when she was not working.

Hunt also used her state-issued police vehicle for personal reasons, despite being reprimanded in March 2023 for an off-duty crash and told explicitly that the vehicle could not be used outside of official business or driven to her residence. Investigators found she continued to drive the vehicle home each day and used it on weekends, including trips to her UMBC classes.

Mileage logs obtained by investigators showed falsified entries. For example, on April 26 and 27, 2025, Hunt drove 31 and 49 miles off duty, then rolled those miles into her Monday entry to disguise weekend use. All events cited in the case occurred in Baltimore County.

“Law enforcement officers are entrusted with upholding the law and maintaining public confidence and trust,” State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III said in a statement. “When that trust is violated through misconduct or misuse of public resources, it undermines the integrity of the entire system. Our office will continue our efforts to hold all public officials who abuse their authority accountable.”

Hunt’s misconduct-in-office plea replaces a broader set of charges originally filed in September. A theft charge was dropped as part of the agreement. She faces potential jail time and probation at the court’s discretion.

The State Prosecutor’s Office credited Senior Assistant State Prosecutors Abigail Ticse and Brittany Dunklow and Senior Special Agent Daniel Bralove for their work on the case.

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