U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Maryland36 S. Charles Street
Fourth Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-2692

(410) 209-4800
TTY/TDD: (410) 962-4462
www.justice.gov/usao/md
For Immediate Release

December 7, 2009

Former Accountant of Dundalk Law Firm Sentenced to More Than 11 Years in Prison For Stealing Over $1 Million and Arson

Defendant Disappeared for Almost a Year After Failing to Appear in Court
Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced George Michael Perez, age 34, of Dundalk, Maryland, today to 135 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for wire fraud and arson in connection with a scheme to defraud the law firm where he was employed, and for failure to appear at a federal hearing, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Quarles also entered an order of forfeiture against Perez in the amount of $1,035,000.

“Arson is a crime of violence that we take very seriously,â€