Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced that Robert David Michael, 56, of Easton, was sentenced to 18 months in jail on October 27, 2026, for a felony theft scheme. Michael created falsified sales paperwork to underreport the prices of jet skis, dirt bikes, and trailers, cheating the State of Maryland out of tens of thousands of dollars in excise taxes.
According to Brown's office, Michael has already paid more than $170,000 in restitution to the state and will serve five years of supervised probation following his release from jail. If he violates probation, he could face an additional eight-and-a-half years of incarceration.
Press Release: Office of the Attorney General of Maryland
Published October 30, 2026. Reproduced in full from the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland.
Attorney General Brown Announces Jail Sentence and Full Restitution for Massive Felony Tax Fraud Scheme
Easton Business Owner Sentenced to 18 Months in Jail and Has Already Paid More Than $170,000 in Restitution to the State
BALTIMORE, MD: Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced that Robert David Michael, 56, of Easton, the sole owner and operator of B&E Motorsports, LLC, in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland, was sentenced to 18 months in jail for a felony theft scheme in which he created falsified sales paperwork to underreport the prices of jet skis, dirt bikes, and trailers, cheating the State of Maryland out of tens of thousands of dollars in excise taxes. The investigation was led by the Attorney General’s Environmental and Natural Resources Crimes Unit (ENRCU), the Attorney General’s Fraud and Corruption Unit (FCU), the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP), the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Maryland Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), and the Maryland Office of the Comptroller.
On September 22, 2026, Robert Michael pleaded guilty before the Honorable Stacy W. McCormack in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County to a felony theft scheme over $100,000, felony identity fraud scheme over $25,000, perjury, and willfully filing a false income tax return.
On October 27, 2026, Michael was sentenced to serve 18 months of active incarceration in the Anne Arundel County Detention Center, with a turn-in date of December 18, 2026. After his release from jail, he will be on five years of supervised probation. If he violates probation, he could potentially serve eight-and-a-half additional years of incarceration.
The defendant has already paid full restitution in this case totaling $171,450.07, paid as follows: $81,081.42 to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), $52,448.36 to the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), $37,920.29 to the Maryland Comptroller. Michael will pay an additional criminal fine of $25,000.
The charges stem from a fraud scheme Michael carried out between July 2018 and June 2025, in which he created false paperwork to fraudulently deflate the cost of personal watercrafts (commonly known as jet skis), off-road motorcycles (commonly known as dirt bikes), and trailers to reduce the amount of excise tax he paid to the State of Maryland. Michael collected the correct tax from consumers at the time of sale but then created a second set of false documents to submit to DNR and MDOT, showing a fake lower price. Michael would remit only the tax due on the fake lower price and would steal the difference. Further, Michael falsified tax returns by grossly underreporting income to minimize or nullified any state income tax owed.
