County Employee Indicted on Charges of Falsifying Parking Tickets

A county employee was indicted Tuesday on multiple charges related to issuing counterfeit parking tickets, according to the Prince George's County State's Attorney's office.

Former Revenue Authority employee Antoine Budd was charged with numerous counts of "perjury, forgery and counterfeiting, issuing of false documents and misconduct in office for allegedly falsifying more than $2,600 in parking citations," according to a statement from the state's attorney.

“As public servants, the citizens entrust us to serve them with the utmost honesty and integrity,” State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks said in the statement. “Mr. Budd’s actions have violated that trust and I thank the Revenue Authority for their thorough investigation and for bringing this matter to our attention.”

Officials said the Revenue Authority began an investigation in April after at least 10 residents complained about parking notices they received between April 9 and May 16. All of the residents stated their vehicles were not at the locations noted on the tickets at the time they were issued.

The state's attorney reports that all of those tickets were issued by Budd for parking in a fire lane, which is a $200 fine. Budd was supposed to take images of each car illegally parked in the fire lane when issuing the ticket, but officials said there were only pictures for two out of the 10 tickets issued. The two images were dark and the car was unable to be identified. A check of the camera showed it was working correctly, as other tickets were issued with pictures correctly around the same time as those forged tickets.

Officials also discovered that the tag number on each ticket did not match the actual vehicle's make and model.

“The Revenue Authority takes these charges very seriously and I am pleased that the oversight mechanisms that are in place worked in this particular case,” Revenue Authority Executive Director Peter Shapiro said.  “Parking enforcement officers are critical to this agency and the success of our operations. The reputation of this agency and our employees is paramount and I will not let the actions of one person tarnish the hard work and dedication of our employees.”