Erica Griswold, a former Anne Arundel County register of wills who pleaded guilty to a misconduct-in-office charge stemming from her cashing of a $6,645 check that was intended to pay estate taxes, was sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation by a judge Thursday.

Circuit Judge Stacy McCormack also sentenced Griswold to 18 months in jail, suspending all of the time. The judge said it wasn’t a theft case and that she would consider probation before judgment in a year.

“I’m not sitting here making judgement on you as a person. I do not believe what took place in this case defines who you are,” McCormack said.

Griswold, a Democrat who was statutorily removed from her elected post following her plea, tearfully told the judge that she felt remorse for her actions.

“I didn’t steal. I am not a thief,” Griswold said.

The case was brought by the Maryland State Prosecutor’s Office. “A conviction with suspended incarceration is appropriate given the abuse of trust that Griswold engaged in,” said Mary Setzer, a senior assistant state prosecutor.

Wearing a white suit, she said, “This has been the hardest thing I ever had to go through other than my mother passing.”

She said she’s fully remorseful and “believes there is a basis for the misconduct.”

Prosecutors had asked for three years of probation and an 18-month suspended jail sentence. Setzer said prosecutors felt strongly that Griswold “had not earned the benefit of probation before judgement.”

Setzer pointed out that Griswold took seven months to repay the money and told employees that she would attempt to wipe her personal phone so law enforcement couldn’t retrieve any data from it. Following Griswold’s guilty plea, she returned the next day to the Register of Wills office and was slamming doors, according to prosecutors.

“The nerve of [expletive] people, I swear,” Griswold said, according to the prosecution.

The prosecution said Griswold did not remove herself from office and that it was instead based on the conviction.

The state constitution states that any state or local official who is found guilty of a felony, or a misdemeanor related to their public duties, shall be removed from office.

Griswold not only caused people to mistrust a public servant, but also held up the estate, Setzer said, adding, “Beneficiaries of the estate were significantly delayed in receiving money that they were owed, that was left to them.”.

Griswold was indicted in January by a county grand jury on charges of misconduct in office, misappropriation by a fiduciary and theft. She pleaded guilty to the misconduct charge on June 4.

According to a news release from the state prosecutor’s office, the Register of Wills office on June 16 received a $6,645 check made payable to Griswold “for the purpose of satisfying an invoice from the Office for payment of non-probate inheritance tax.”

Griswold admitted to falsely telling the mail processor that she was expecting the check, leading them to believe it was for her personally, according to the news release. She then cashed the $6,645 check at a Chase Bank in Annapolis on June 22, 2023, and kept the money.

In August, the check’s issuer contacted her office, questioning why he was still receiving invoices for the $6,645 inheritance tax that he believed he had already paid.

Prosecutors stated that Griswold was informed of the issuer’s inquiry that day and then repeatedly notified of the importance of repaying the funds to the state. She ultimately repaid the money on Feb. 23, nearly a month after the grand jury had indicted her, the news release stated.

Peter O’Neil, Griswold’s lawyer, said: “Do I believe at the time that she cashed the check … that she intended to steal? I don’t believe that.”

O’Neil said Griswold, who was paid $146,118 a year, was in a situation where she needed to borrow money.

On June 4, Griswold pleaded guilty to the misconduct charge. A week later, she apologized for her actions, stating that “public trust has always been paramount to me.” The county’s Orphans Court appointed Jasmine M. Jackson, an auditor in the office for 14 years, as the new register of wills.

Griswold was elected register of wills in 2022, becoming the first Black person to assume the post in its 246-year history.

This story has been updated to clarify that Erica Griswold was statutorily removed from her post as a result of her plea agreement.