Maryland Insurance Professional Sentenced for Major Theft from Title Company

Cheryl Leigh Gray, a 49-year-old former insurance producer from Middletown, Maryland, has been convicted in a felony theft case involving over $369,000 stolen from Passport Title Services, LLC. Gray, who served as the operations manager for Passport Title—a company conducting real estate settlements across Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C.—abused her position to illicitly transfer settlement proceeds to her personal account between May 2016 and July 2021. Utilizing her access to the company’s escrow accounts, she conducted 58 wire transfers over six years, diverting funds meant for real estate transaction disbursements.

The conviction came after Gray pleaded guilty to one count of a theft scheme valued at $100,000 or more in the Circuit Court for Frederick County. The court’s decision, delivered by Judge Julie S. Solt, includes a sentence of five years with four years suspended, leading to one year of incarceration for Gray. Following her release, Gray will undergo five years of supervised probation and is mandated to pay $63,536.46 in restitution. This order comes after she had already repaid a substantial portion of the stolen amount, totaling $305,995.55, to the victimized company.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, whose office led the prosecution, highlighted the collaborative effort of the Criminal Division, the Fraud and Corruption Unit, and specific individuals including Assistant Attorney General Timothy Lake, as well as Maryland Insurance Administration’s Forensic Auditor Suzzanne Jones and Investigator William Wagner in securing the conviction and sentencing.