Hagerstown Woman Pleads Guilty to Harboring a Fugitive

Baltimore, Maryland - Jennifer Gouff, age 30, of Hagerstown, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to harboring a fugitive, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the plea agreement, the man with whom Gouff lived was indicted on gun and drug charges. When agents went to arrest the man, he was not in the home but Gouff was. Gouff was advised by law enforcement that the man had been indicted and there was a warrant for his arrest. Law enforcement agents contacted Gouff several times to determine the whereabouts of the man. Gouff advised the agents that she had spoken with the man by telephone but that he was in West Virginia and then later in New York.

On October 15, 2007, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Marshals Service received information that the man had returned to the home in Hagerstown where he and Gouff resided. Agents went to the home and Gouff let them in. The agents found the man hiding in the armoire in the master bedroom of the home.

Gouff faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Chief U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg has scheduled sentencing for September 18, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Marshal Service for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Christopher J. Romano, who is prosecuting the case.