Rosedale Woman Sentenced for Embezzling More Than $1.3 Million

A Rosedale woman was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for embezzling more than $1.3 million from nonprofit organizations designed to help the homeless and foster children, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Sharon Harrison, 48, worked as a bookkeeper for four nonprofit organizations that received federal assistance, the statement said.

According to her plea agreement, Harrison took the following:

• $133,178.04 from Reservoir Hill Improvement Council; 2012–2014
• $161,750.14 from Jobs, Housing & Recovery (JHR); 2013–2014
• $784,781.17 from Between Friends; 2008–2011
• $226,888.34 from Health, Education, Advocacy, Life (HEAL); 2005–2011

Harrison’s sister founded Between Friends, a nonprofit that claimed to provide children with foster homes and help foster families, according to the FBI, which said the sister has been charged separately with bankruptcy fraud and embezzlement.

JHR AND HEAL offered services for Baltimore City’s homeless population, the district attorney reported. The Reservoir Hill Improvement Council supported efforts to improve that community.

“Sharon Harrison helped herself to federal funds intended to provide services for disadvantaged children and homeless families in Baltimore,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement.

Harrison must serve three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised probation and she must pay restitution for the more than $1.3 million she embezzled, according to the U.S. Attorney.

She faced a maximum sentence of 10 years, the FBI reported.