A Maryland woman has been released after spending twelve days in jail for allegedly squatting in a property worth $2.3 million — and then seems to have headed right back to the house.
According to FOX Baltimore, Tamieka Goode and her partner, Corey Pollard, allegedly occupied a bank-owned property in Bethesda, Maryland. Nineteen-year-old Ian Chen, who is a college student and lives with his parents near the home, filed charges of trespassing and fourth-degree burglary last July.
Goode, who reportedly refers to herself as a “pro-se litigation coach,” was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to ninety days in jail. In court, Judge John C. Moffett told the woman that she has “some demented thoughts to justify” her opinion around squatting.
On Feb. 2, just hours after Goode was released pending appeal, a woman in an outfit similar to a distinctive one Goode has been seen wearing was seen outside the home. A neighbor told the news station that she’s sure Goode is back at the house, and worries that she might become “volatile” and “erupt into violence.”
Goode’s lawyer Alex J. Webster, III defended his client, maintaining that Goode has cited “rights known as squatter’s rights” as her reason to live in the 7,500-square-foot home.
Webster claimed that there were “multiple people inside that house,” and added that it “doesn’t necessarily mean she was the one who broke in and entered.”
Responding to concerns about Goode’s daughter’s welfare during her mother’s incarceration, the attorney said, “I don’t know what has been done exactly in those 12 days the minor has been left alone. But I do know that Ms. Goode is a good mother. She is a responsible adult regardless of the circumstances that bring us here.”
“Whatever she did do in those 12 days, I’m sure she made responsible decisions to ensure the safety of the juvenile in the house,” Webster concluded.
Goode has faced multiple charges in the last decade, including felony theft and unauthorized taking of a vehicle.
On March 6, Goode is scheduled to appear in Montgomery County Circuit Court for a pre-trial conference hearing.
