ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A former aide in the Maryland State Senate was sentenced to weekend incarceration and probation last week after admitting to fraudulently awarding herself $20,000 in legislative scholarship funds while impersonating colleagues and continuing to access a senator’s email after leaving her job.
Esther Dikongue, who worked for a Maryland state senator from 2019 to 2023, was sentenced July 16, 2025, in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court by Judge Stacy W. McCormack to four consecutive weekends in jail. If completed successfully, she will receive probation before judgment and be placed on two years of supervised probation. Dikongue also presented a $20,000 restitution check to the state at sentencing.
According to prosecutors, Dikongue exploited her position to bypass a required application process, falsely claim eligibility for a scholarship, and mislead the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) about her status as a selected awardee. She never submitted an application, wrote the required essay, or received a recommendation from the senator’s Scholarship Committee.
Instead, in July 2022, while still employed, she contacted MHEC and claimed she had been selected for a $10,000 scholarship through her senator’s office. When questioned by a MHEC staffer, she confirmed, “Yes, it is $10,000,” and the funds were disbursed to American University, where she was enrolled in a master’s program.
The fraud continued even after she left her position. On May 26, 2024—over a year after her departure—Dikongue used her former boss’s email credentials, which had not been changed, to send a message to MHEC authorizing a scholarship renewal in her own name. She impersonated two current staffers by signing their names in the email and repeated the scheme in two more emails over the following month.
“Our office authorizes her scholarship for the spring of 2025 to be moved to the summer I semester of 2024, as she will graduate in the fall,” Dikongue wrote in one email, referring to herself. In a follow-up, she added, “If you cannot apply the spring funds to the summer, apply the full award to the fall semester.”
Prosecutors argued that Dikongue’s actions “undermined the important trust necessary for legislators to have with their aides” and called for a criminal conviction. In a statement, Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III said, “Abusing the trust the people of Maryland place in our legislative offices will result in criminal consequences.”
Deputy State Prosecutor Sarah R. David, Assistant State Prosecutor Stephanie Haddad, and Special Agent Michael Berg were credited for their roles in the investigation and prosecution.
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My god the privilege on display here is astounding. Sure 20k is not that big of a number in today’s age where people fraud millions like it’s nothing. BUT the amount of crimes this lady committed to make this happen is crazy. She is getting less than a slap on the wrist yet she impersonated government officials on numerous occasions. I know I can’t commit multiple cases of fraud, identity theft, etc and only get 4 weekends in jail. I would get 4 years if I am lucky.
pardon me for saying this, but this is a more innocent crime. It looks like this was handled responsibly, by the SA + by the judge. You don’t have to read through a 20 page file to see if it was handled responsibly. I’m glad she won’t receive a criminal record for trying to get an education + maybe thats why it was handled this way. Remember, a college degree is a purchase, just like buying a sofa is. Its not bad to know what jail is like, to know you want to stay out of there + its too bad someone can’t voluntarily be in jail to know they don’t want to go back + don’t commit crimes. If someone could voluntarily go to jail, maybe they wouldn’t commit a crime because they wouldn’t want to go back. (Even thought you can’t figure out what the law is).