Apr 22, 2025 2 min read

A Maryland woman accused of attempting to take nearly $400,000 from a Washington County man’s retirement fund pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor theft charge and was given credit for time served.

Omolabake Oyebola Adedeji, 44, of Essex, Md., pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking and was immediately sentenced by Judge Valarie Costanzo to serve one to 11 months in jail.

Adedeji had already served a month in the Washington County jail after being charged in December 2021, so she will not face any more time incarcerated, although she will be on probation for the next 10 months.

The state Attorney General’s office, which prosecuted the case, accused Adedeji of trying to defraud $398,000 from a Houston man’s retirement fund. Adedeji was accused of providing enough personal information to unlock the account and change the email address and password in February 2021.

While two checks were sent to Adedeji, the retirement fund and her bank stopped the money from going into her account after the account holder notified them that he did not request a transfer. Her defense attorney, Christopher Blackwell, said since no money was ever cashed in her account, she does not have to pay restitution.

Adedeji, who was facing felony charges of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, forgery and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor theft charge just before jury selection in her trial was set to begin Monday.

“She was fully prepared to go to trial,” Blackwell said. “But the risk she ran is she faced five felony (counts), so she decided to take the plea with the one misdemeanor charge.”