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Dunbar head football coach taken into FBI custody for alleged overtime fraud

Football
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BALTIMORE — Dunbar High School's football coach, Lawrence Smith, has been taken into FBI custody.

The coach was under investigation for timecard and overtime fraud.

Smith was also the President of the Maryland Association of School Resource Officers.

Allegedly, Smith obtained more than $215,000 in overtime pay for attempting to avoid paying federal income taxes and filing a false tax return.

RELATED: Dunbar High School Football coach under investigation by FBI for overtime fraud

Smith began working as a Baltimore City School Police Officer in 2005 and in 2016 was promoted to detective and put in charge of the School Police Overtime Unit. In this role, Smith managed the Overtime Unit and was responsible for the coordination and scheduling of School Police Officer overtime, including his own.

According to the indictment, from January 2019 through August 2022, Smith fraudulently received overtime pay for hours that he didn't work.

The coach allegedly falsely claimed he was working overtime as a School Police Officer while he was elsewhere running personal errands, coaching football or out of state on vacation.

Online records show Smith earned about $94,000 in overtime pay between October 2020 and October 2021.

The indictment also alleges Smith failed to file individual tax returns for 2017, 2019 and 2020 and to report his wages and other income to the IRS.

If convicted, Smith faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud; a maximum of five years in federal prison for each count of attempting to evade taxes; and a maximum of three years in federal prison for filing a false tax return.