Baltimore City State Senator Dalya Attar has been arrested and indicted on federal extortion and conspiracy charges, according to court documents. Attar, a Democrat from Baltimore City representing District 41, made history by becoming the first Orthodox Jewish woman to hold a seat in the Maryland Senate, which she assumed in January following a vacancy.
She was indicted on eight charges on October 23.
The indictment alleges that Attar, 35, planted tracking and recording devices on two of her rivals, including recording them in bed together in an attempt to silence them. Then, Attar threatened to release the footage of the two victims "in bed" unless they met her demands not to speak out against her publicly. Court documents said that the two victims were a political consultant whom she filmed in bed with a married man. Additionally, Attar's co-defendants, Joseph Attar and Kalman Finkelstein, were also taken into federal custody. The indictment says that Attar worked with four unnamed co-conspirators to carry out the scheme. During Attar's 2018 election, she had worked with the political consultant, but the two parted ways soon after due to a disagreement. Attar allegedly feared that the consultant was "looking to screw me," and was concerned about flyers being released to the Jewish community about her voting record. Prosecutors said that the plot began in January 2020 when the consultant stayed in an apartment that belonged to Finkelstein's family, and the cop and Attar's brother broke into the unit while she was away. Then, the two men allegedly installed cameras disguised as smoke detectors inside, and planted a tracking device on the consultant's car. In March 2021, Attar allegedly had her brother threaten the consultant and married man with the release of the video unless the consultant would 'leave Dalya alone.' Later that year, in November 2021, the indictment alleges that Attar sent a message to her brother and one of the unnamed co-conspirators, saying that "if the video really exists, it'll be really helpful now." On December 6, 2021, the day that Attar filed for re-election in the House of Delegates, her brother contacted the married man to "discuss an opportunity," and told the man that he had "hours" of footage of him in bed with the consultant. The indictment alleges that Attar's brother threatened to "share this video with everyone you know, everyone she knows, every Rabbi in town, your kids, your wife, her daughters." Senate President Bill Fergusons office released a statement acknowledging the news: This is the first we have been made aware of state Senator Dayla Attars arrest and we dont have any additional information to provide at this time. "The Senate of Maryland holds its members to the highest ethical standards as we serve our constituents, and we will continue to do so as we learn more about the alleged facts in the indictment," Ferguson said.