Attar trial timing uncertain as judge weighs digital evidence

Outgoing Maryland state Sen. Dalya Attar, her brother Joseph Attar, and their associate Kalman Finkelstein will wait at least one more week to learn if key digital evidence will be admitted in their federal criminal trial. The trio appeared in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Friday, facing charges that stem from a federal grand jury indictment issued more than a year ago.

Defense attorneys argued that the government should be barred from using evidence obtained from the defendants' cellphones and online accounts. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher did not issue a ruling on that motion. Instead, she ordered the parties to file additional legal briefs within seven days.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Phelps suggested at the end of the hearing that the legal teams begin discussing trial scheduling. He proposed this to prevent the case from being delayed until 2028. Gregg Bernstein, an attorney for Joseph Attar, disagreed with the approach. Bernstein stated that discussing the schedule would be presumptuous because the judge has not yet ruled on the admissibility of the evidence.

Prosecutors allege the three defendants worked together to secretly record a political consultant while she was in bed with a married man. The government claims the group threatened to share the recording unless the adviser stayed out of the 2022 Maryland House of Delegates race. The defendants have pleaded not guilty. Gallagher previously granted a motion to dismiss several charges, including extortion. The remaining counts involve conspiracy and the interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communication.

Dalya Attar first won a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates in 2018, becoming the first Orthodox Jewish woman elected to the state legislature. She previously served as an assistant state’s attorney in Baltimore. In 2025, the Baltimore City Democratic State Central Committee nominated her to replace Jill Carter in the state Senate. Carter resigned that seat to serve on the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals.

Attar lost her re-election bid in June. Del. Malcolm Ruff defeated her in the Democratic primary and ran unopposed in the general election. The district covers Northwest and West Baltimore neighborhoods, including Pimlico, Park Heights, Edmondson Village, Mount Washington, and Roland Park. Finkelstein, a Baltimore police officer, is currently suspended without pay.