Former legislative aide in the Maryland State Senate, Esther Dikongue, has been sentenced to four consecutive weekends of incarceration for stealing funds allocated for legislative scholarships.

If she completes the weekends, she will receive probation before judgment, with two years of supervised probation.

During the hearing, Ms. Dikongue also presented a check for $20,000 restitution to the State of Maryland.

According to the office of the state prosecutor, Dikongue worked for a Maryland senator when she gave this scholarship money to herself without the senator’s approval.

For context, members of Maryland Legislature are allocated funds in order to give scholarships to students from Maryland attending colleges in state or out of state, which may offer majors that aren’t available at any Maryland school.

In addition, Dikongue maintained her access to the senator’s email, “secretly and without permission,” even after she no longer worked for this senator to make sure she would get said scholarship money.

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