Harford Sheriff's Deputy Pleads Guilty To Bribery

A Harford County Sheriff's Office deputy was sentenced to three years probation Monday after pleading guilty to bribery.

As a condition of the plea, Deputy First Class Todd E. Johnson resigned from the sheriff's office, according to a release from the Harford County state's attorney's office.

Johnson, a seven-year veteran of the sheriff's office, gave Final Notice Recovery and Location of 4501 Curtis Avenue in Baltimore unauthorized access to police databases. The business is desribed as a towing company that repossesses vehicles for banks and creditors, according to a release from the sheriff's office.

Johnson used his agency issued computer to look up tag numbers for the company in an effort to locate the vehicles and owners and used the NCIC database as a search engine to look for more information on vehicle owners, according to the sheriff's office. The information provided by NCIC would typically not be available to towing companies.

Johnson accepted payment from the company in exchange for providing the information, the sheriff's office said.

Johnson, 30, of the 400 block of Bonnett Street in Aberdeen, plead guilty to demanding or receiving a bribe as a public employee Monday in Harford County District Court.

Harford County State’s Attorney Joseph Cassilly said in the release that, based on Johnson’s good record and cooperation with investigators, the state did not ask for incarceration.

Johnson was sentenced to five years in jail and a $1,000 fine, but all of that was suspended. He will instead serve 36 months of supervised probation.

In exchange for his guilty plea, the state decided not to pursue charges of malfeasance in office, theft scheme between $1,000 and $10,000 and willfully distributing a valid National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) code, according to online court records.