A Maryland state senator, Dalya Attar, has been federally indicted for allegedly orchestrating a plot to secretly record two of her critics in an intimate encounter and using the footage to threaten and silence them, according to an unsealed federal indictment.
Prosecutors allege that Attar, her brother Joseph “Yossi” Attar, and Baltimore Police Officer Kalman Finkelstein conspired to film the victims without consent and later used the footage for extortion. The 20-page indictment, unsealed Thursday, charges the trio with conspiracy, extortion, illegal wiretapping, and violations of the Travel Act.
Authorities say the group targeted a former campaign consultant, identified as Victim 1, who had worked for Attar’s 2018 campaign but later supported her political rivals. Victim 2 was romantically involved with Victim 1 and was married to another person at the time, according to court documents.
Investigators claim the defendants installed hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors and placed a tracking device in the victims’ apartment, later viewing footage of the pair together in bed. The recording was allegedly used to threaten exposure if either victim publicly criticized Attar or supported her opponents.
By early 2021, prosecutors say Attar discussed suppressing potential criticism via WhatsApp messages, writing, “We have a very easy … simple way to get her to just shut up and leave us alone. … She’s worried about her kids’ shidduchim.” She allegedly added, “I’m not saying we leak this anywhere or ever do that … but I’m saying we warn her … ‘If you go ahead and screw with me, we’re going to leak it.’”
In December 2021, Joseph Attar reportedly confronted one of the victims at a Baltimore shopping center, warning, “I have hours of footage of you in bed with [Victim 1] … Go to [Victim 1] and say leave Dalya alone … or I’ll share this video with everyone you know — every Rabbi in town, your kids, your wife, her daughters.”
The threats allegedly continued into 2022 as the group sought to keep both victims silent before Attar’s re-election campaign. Prosecutors say the three coordinated through encrypted WhatsApp messages, which they routinely deleted to avoid detection.
If convicted, the defendants face potential sentences of several decades in prison. Attar’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley told FOX 45 that Finkelstein has been on administrative duty since 2022 and no longer has police powers.
Attar, a Democrat and former Baltimore prosecutor, was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2018 and appointed to the state Senate in January 2025. She had been viewed as an emerging figure in Maryland’s Orthodox Jewish community.
