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An ambulance chaser bribed MPD employees with $40,000. Now he’s headed to prison for up to 15 years

A Maryland man pleaded guilty to bribing two MPD employees - in order to obtain confidential police data for his own profit.

WASHINGTON – For more than two years, a Maryland man bribed two Metropolitan Police officers with more than $40,000 cash – all to support an ambulance chasing business profiting from confidential police data.

Marvin Parker of Silver Spring pleaded guilty to one federal count of bribing public officials – a felony with a maximum 15-year prison sentence. Parker, 60, could ultimately also face a quarter million dollar fine and three years supervised release.

Federal and District officials did not disclose the names of the two MPD employees involved in the bribery scheme. Officials familiar with the proceedings, however, did confirm the two individuals are no longer employed by the department.

According to federal prosecutors, Parker paid the MPD employees from August 2015 to October 2017, in order to illegally obtain confidential crash reports.

Parker admitted to using the information to call motorists involved in D.C. traffic accidents, profiting when he referred them to legal and medical services.

MPD General Orders prohibit officers and employees from releasing the information used in the police crash reports. Parker admitted to paying one employee up to $200 per week for the information, and a second employee up to $500 per week in cash.

Prosecutors filed charges against Parker on June 7, 2019 – the same day authorities charged MPD officer Walter Lee with accepting more than $15,000 in bribes from an unnamed individual.

Authorities declined to comment if Parker is the unnamed individual.

According to court records, Officer Lee is expected to plead guilty at an Aug. 12 hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey.

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