The former president of the community association of Oyster Harbor in Annapolis was sentenced Monday to two years’ probation for pilfering more than $18,000 from the beachfront neighborhood’s bank accounts to pay his home internet and veterinary bills.

Eric Epstein, 64, entered an Alford plea to one count of embezzlement. In doing so, he acknowledged that the prosecution had enough evidence to convict him but maintained his innocence.

After finding him guilty, Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Stacy W. McCormack granted Epstein probation before judgment. That means that Epstein can have the conviction erased from his record if he successfully completes two years of probation.

McCormack handed down the sentence after hearing testimony from two factions of the once-close-knit community. Some residents said they felt betrayed by Epstein and believed he should face a stiff penalty. Others said they would have testified in his defense at trial and believed he had been punished enough by the publicity surrounding his charges.

Taken together, their statements to McCormack depicted a neighborhood divided by the criminal case, one where neighbors no longer speak to each other, where nasty emails and mailbox flyers about the case sowed further division.

“My hope for the community,” McCormack said, “is that they find some way to move on.”

Epstein, a Marine Corps veteran and IT guru, served as president of the Oyster Harbor Citizens Association Inc. from 2013 until he resigned in 2022.

At first, neighbors admired his ability to get things done.

But a 2021 citation and fine from the Maryland Department of the Environment against the community sparked “a lot of controversy in the community,” with some blaming Epstein, Deputy State’s Attorney Jessica Daigle said in court.

Daigle said Epstein stepped down around the time the association’s board commissioned an audit of its two bank accounts, over one of which, it turned out, Epstein had assumed sole control.

That review found “several irregularities,” Daigle said, adding that the association subsequently notified Anne Arundel County Police.

Detectives found what they said was evidence of an array of financial crimes related to Epstein’s use of community association funds for years of home internet bills and three veterinary house calls for his cats and dog.

Board members interviewed by investigators had “no knowledge” of Epstein’s using community accounts to pay his personal internet, Daigle said, and “there was no legitimate reason for the association to be paying for those house call vet bills.”

“Epstein’s embezzlement has created quite a rift in this community,” Daigle told McCormack, who responded that as much was evident from reactions in the courtroom gallery.

Nancy Plaxico, a community association board member and secretary, said Epstein had “violated” trust that he’d earned from neighbors who “gave him more and more leeway” to act in the community’s best interest.

“It’s hard to overstate the devastating impact the crimes of Eric Epstein over the last seven years had on the community of Oyster Harbor,” Plaxico told McCormack.

The resulting turmoil caused “many, many broken friendships in a place many good people called home,” Plaxico said. The historically Black neighborhood, which is still very diverse, Plaxico added, had devolved into a community “where neighbors who were once great friends don’t speak to each other.”

When Plaxico suggested that McCormack require Epstein complete 500 hours of community service in Oyster Harbor, people who were there in support of him laughed.

“This is a neighborhood that has to figure out how to move on. … There’s more to life than being upset with neighbors,” McCormack said as another resident recounted the division. “Don’t let one individual, whether you love him or hate him, ruin your relationship with other people.”

Defense attorney Robin Henley highlighted Epstein’s volunteer work, saying his client went out of his way to mentor youths in STEM through the Anne Arundel County Public Library System.

While conceding that “things certainly could’ve been done differently,” Henley noted that Epstein had no criminal record and asked that McCormack grant him probation before judgment.

David Ginsburg, a resident of Oyster Harbor of more than 25 years, said he was “heartbroken” by the charges against Epstein, whom he considers a friend.

“That’s not the Eric Epstein I know,” Ginsburg said.

Ginsburg said Epstein helped out youths in the neighborhood, sometimes hiring them to do jobs around the community.

He also credited Epstein with accomplishing much during his tenure as president of the association, bringing to the community a basketball hoop, volleyball nets, a dog-washing station and places for firetrucks to turn around after they encountered problems with narrow streets. He said Epstein always managed to balance the budget.

Ginsburg said Epstein’s marriage suffered because of the criminal charges and his employment was at risk because some of his work requires government clearance. News articles and social media posts would loom over Epstein long after others moved on from the criminal case.

“He really has already been punished,” Ginsburg said.

Another longtime community member, Gerald Winegrad, a former state senator known for his environmental activism, said that he was frustrated that Epstein was only being prosecuted for what Winegard described as a fraction of his misuse of community association finances.

Winegrad said it would be an “abdication of justice” for Epstein to get probation before judgment, saying he believed the man he once considered a friend deserved six months in jail.

Daigle said the charges her office pursued, related to the personal internet bills and veterinary visits, were the only ones prosecutors believed they could prove the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard in criminal cases.

Anyone who believed Epstein owed more, Daigle said, “has other recourse and is aware they have other recourse.”

Indeed, the Oyster Harbor Citizens Association on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Epstein alleging a conspiracy, online court records show. Epstein was served with the complaint while waiting for his case to be called in court Monday, according to Henley.

Epstein passed up an opportunity to address McCormack, with Henley saying the presence of a civil case factored into the decision to remain silent. Both attorney and client declined to comment after court.