Maryland state senator indicted on extortion, conspiracy charges

Dalya Attar allegedly conspired with her brother and a police officer to threaten the release of a video of a former consultant's affair with a married man.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland state senator has been indicted on federal charges including extortion related to her 2022 campaign for a state House seat for allegedly conspiring to threaten the release of an explicit video of a former consultant’s affair.

State Sen. Dalya Attar, a Baltimore Democrat, was charged in a federal indictment unsealed Thursday, that involves her brother, Joseph Attar, and Kalman Finkelstein, a Baltimore police officer who worked on her campaign. The group conspired to silence a former consultant by making public a video of her in bed with a married man, the indictment said.

The purpose of the conspiracy was to obtain evidence that could be used to prevent the former consultant from saying negative things about the lawmaker’s campaign, the indictment said.

According to the indictment, there were secret recordings of Attar’s former political consultant in bed with a married man with recording devices disguised as smoke detectors. The consultant was staying at the time at an apartment owned by Finkelstein’s family.

The recording was intended to be used to potentially harm matchmaking efforts for the consultant’s daughter, according to the indictment.