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Former Cecil County Deputy Pleads Guilty to Misusing Police Databases for Personal Searches

Prosecutors cast the plea as a breach of public trust over personal use of police databases.

Overview

  • Dontae Odom pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of misconduct in office and three counts of unauthorized computer access, with sentencing set for Nov. 19.
  • Prosecutors said he used the FBI’s National Crime Information Center and the Maryland Criminal Justice Dashboard to look up seven people for personal reasons.
  • Those searches targeted his wife, romantic partners, relatives of romantic partners, a hotel employee and a woman who worked in his office building.
  • Officials said none of the database queries were tied to legitimate law enforcement duties.
  • Odom admitted violating a December 2024 no-contact order by meeting an individual in March and recording the conversation, and he had resigned from the sheriff’s office in August before charges were filed.