Former Maryland Law Enforcement Officer Gets 70 Months for Arson and Fraud Schemes

GREENBELT, Maryland — U.S. District Judge Lydia Griggsby sentenced former Maryland law-enforcement officer Philip James Dupree, 42, of Pikesville, to 70 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release on May 14, 2026.

Dupree was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, arson, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud. The charges center on schemes to defraud one insurance company through arson and three separate financial institutions through fraudulent loan applications.

Per the U.S. Department of Justice release, the offenses involved deliberate property destruction to collect insurance proceeds and submission of false information to obtain bank financing.

The sentence directly affects Dupree, who must report to federal prison. It also requires full restitution to the defrauded insurance carrier and the three financial institutions, though the exact loss amount was not specified in the charging documents. The case originated in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

The conviction shifts Dupree from law-enforcement officer to federal inmate. He will begin serving the 70-month term immediately upon designation to a Bureau of Prisons facility. After release he faces two years of supervised release during which any new criminal conduct or failure to make restitution payments can trigger additional prison time.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland will next handle collection of restitution and monitor compliance with the supervised-release conditions.

This marks the latest federal prosecution of a former law-enforcement officer for fraud-related offenses in Maryland. The Department of Justice has pursued similar arson-for-profit and bank-fraud cases in the district for more than a decade, often relying on wiretap and financial records to establish intent.

The statutes cited include those governing wire fraud under Title 18 and bank fraud under Title 18, which carry maximum penalties well above the sentence imposed.

The outcome closes one chapter in a multi-year investigation that required coordination between federal prosecutors, the FBI and local agencies to trace insurance claims against deliberately damaged properties and falsified loan packages submitted to three distinct lenders.