Ex-Cop Jailed for Misconduct In Office

A former police officer will spend the holidays in jail after a Baltimore County judge sentenced her to 30 days behind bars for abusing her position.

Deputies handcuffed Astarte Hunt, 49, in a Baltimore County courtroom Thursday afternoon and led her to jail following a sentencing hearing for two counts of misconduct in office.

Judge Garrett Glennon sentenced Hunt to one year of incarceration, suspending all but 30 days, followed by one year of supervised probation. Hunt pleaded guilty to the charges last month.

Hunt worked nine years for the Maryland Department of Health Police and previously spent 20 years with the Baltimore City Police Department.

She admitted falsifying records to conceal that she was attending college classes when she was supposed to be working as a captain for the Department of Health Police.

“She was doing that while she was supposed to be supervising hospital operations throughout the entire state, including her officers, as well as patients who were in state custody,” Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Abigail Ticse said.

Hunt primarily worked out of
Spring Grove Hospital in Baltimore County, Ticse said.

Hunt also admitted using her state-issued vehicle as a take-home car, against state policy, and falsifying mileage logs, Ticse said.

Investigators placed a tracker on the vehicle for more than a month to confirm suspicions that she was using it for purposes other than work.

On Thursday, Glennon said he wrestled with the “tension in this case between her years of public service and her abuse of authority at the very same time.”

Hunt had previously served 20 years as an officer with the Baltimore Police Department and had encountered disciplinary issues there as well. Her attorney, Samuel Seidler, said she was demoted after she was caught spending time at home with her children on nights when she was supposed to be working overnight shifts.

“There were many instances in which she didn’t even respond to calls for service, presumably because she was sleeping,” Ticse said.

Hunt retired from the Baltimore Police Department in good standing, Seidler said.

Seidler said Hunt viewed the misconduct as policy violations rather than crimes. As a salaried employee, he said, she worked additional hours to make up for the time she spent in class.

“In her mind, she always did her job and made up all the time that she wrongfully used to go to school,” he said.

Hunt also said through her attorney that she never received a poor performance evaluation at either job.

“Years ago, I’m sure this might have been considered a perk of the job,” Seidler said, referring to personal use of the state vehicle.

Ticse said Hunt was explicitly told in March 2023 that the car was not a perk after she was involved in a single-vehicle accident on a weekend while driving the state vehicle. She was reprimanded and instructed to stop using it for anything other than work, Ticse said, but continued to do so.

Seidler asked Glennon to consider an alternative sentence, such as home detention or weekend incarceration.

“She is literally terrified of incarceration,” he said, noting that the detention center might have to make special accommodations to protect her due to her law-enforcement history.

Ticse argued that jail time was necessary as a deterrent.

“She stole from the state taxpayers over many years, from multiple agencies, multiple times,” Ticse said.

Hunt told the judge she was remorseful.

“It was bad judgment on my part,” she said. “As a human being, I’m not trying to purposely steal or hurt anyone or anything like that.”

Glennon said as a captain in a position of leadership, Hunt failed to lead by example.

“It’s the repeated lying, the breach of trust — she had previously been reprimanded. This was not one incident, but a continuing course of conduct,” Glennon said.