The Maryland Military is embroiled in a yearslong fight with a twice-fired staffer attempting to reclaim his job and pension even though the state alleges he abused the children in his care.
A hearing is scheduled for February 2026 in Harford County Circuit Court.
Maryland National Guard Freestate Challenge Academy staff member Marcus Lisbon was fired in October 2023, accused by the state of neglecting his duties. He appealed his firing a month later and a judge overturned it — but the state then fired him a second time, this time, accusing him of child abuse and assault. The suit is wending its way through the courts.
The state claims Lisbon not only allowed dangerous situations to occur because he neglected his work, but that he also started a “fight club” at the military camp for troubled youth, called Freestate Challenge Academy and headquartered on Aberdeen Proving Ground. There, Lisbon not only encouraged the teens in his care to beat each other, but also participated, beating the teens himself, the state’s legal team said.
But Lisbon and his attorneys maintain that his firing was unjust. Lisbon’s original appeal and grievance form requests that his firing be rescinded and mention of it removed from his file, and that the state “restore to the appellant all wages and benefits, including pension credits, that have been lost.”
Lisbon’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Freestate promises teens and their families a strict structure, housing and food for 22 weeks, along with the opportunity to study and take the GED. The program is free but teens must be in danger of failing or dropping out of high school to apply, and are required to drop out to attend.
For many youth enrolled in the program, the offer is life-changing, and many have positive experiences, crediting the program with turning their lives around. Others, however, have told The Baltimore Sun the program did them more harm than good.
The Sun reviewed records from 2019-2025 that show teens routinely suffered violence and abuse at the camp during that time. Federal and state leaders have called on the Maryland Military Department to hold accountable its program leaders and improve training for staff members.
Fired twice: negligence and abuse
Lisbon filed an appeal of his firing, arguing that it was undeserved, with the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management. The complaint was heard in the Office of Administrative Hearings and a judge with the Office of Administrative Hearings agreed with Lisbon, ordering the state to reinstate him, and instead suspend Lisbon without pay for 60 days and demote him.
When the Maryland Military Department petitioned for judicial review of the decision, the case was moved to Harford County Circuit Court. The Sun reviewed the complaint and accompanying documentation, totaling more than 300 pages of legal documents.
Lisbon’s initial firing took place October 2023 after an altercation erupted between a teen attending the camp and a staff member while Lisbon was in charge, the records show.
Lisbon, who was employed as a military youth worker lead with Freestate in recent years, was assigned a cadet platoon in October 2023 due to a “staff shortage,” according to court records.
During that time, the academy commandant took a nap in his car, leaving Lisbon as the highest-ranking youth worker, per records.
At that point, several of Lisbon’s friends showed up to the camp on motorcycles, accessing the grounds without permission, the response from the state says. Lisbon proceeded to hang out with them and allow his cadets to hang out with them, the response says, noting that this was against the rules.
While Lisbon, the then-ranking staffer, was hanging out with his friends, the response says, another youth worker, Michael Roundtree, began having issues with some cadets taunting the cadets under his charge.
Roundtree did not respond to requests for comment by publication.
A group of girls were hanging out of the windows of the barracks, making fun of his cadets, according to the suit. Roundtree “raced on foot up the dorm stairs to investigate … and to discipline them by upturning their beds and ordering them to put their beds back in order,” the suit said.
Roundtree grabbed one girl’s mattress, dragged it outside and threw it on the lawn, according to statements by several staff members and teen witnesses.
“The situation became chaotic,” and “command and control … was largely lost,” the suit read.
At that point, the girl whose mattress Roundtree had grabbed picked up a rock and threatened to throw it through Roundtree’s car’s windshield, per witness statements.
Lisbon joined the group, calmed the girl and got her to put the rock down. The commotion woke the commandant sleeping in a nearby car, who ordered all cadets to report to the parade deck for formation.
Following this, the Maryland Military Department fired Lisbon for “negligence in the performance of his duties and willful disregard of adherence to the training schedule [and] created an environment which ultimately led to a cadet having a negative interaction with a cadre member,” the suit reads.
The state cited the fact that Lisbon had previously been warned about his conduct and demoted earlier in his tenure with Freestate.
The judge with the Office of Administrative Hearings disagreed with the state’s firing and ordered Lisbon’s reinstatement. However, as the case was being heard, the state fired Lisbon a second time, citing new information: a report that Lisbon had “organized, supervised and participated in a ‘fight club’ involving cadets and cadre,” according to an affidavit sworn by Aberdeen Proving Ground Police Detective Sergeant Richard R. Workman.
Shortly after first firing Lisbon, the director of the camp reported Lisbon to the police for criminal behavior toward the cadets in his care, which the state submitted to the court.
“On several occasions, Lisbon assaulted several cadets by intentionally using a display of force that reasonably caused them fear of imminent bodily harm, with injuries to cadets consisting of black eyes, bloody lips and abrasions,” Workman said in the affidavit.
A following notice of termination cited the fight club.
“Many of said cadets were minors and charges of the state at the time,” the notice read.
“During the investigation, we became aware he was alleged to have been involved in organizing a fight club after hours with the cadets where they would be bloodied and bruised in bareknuckle fighting,” Maryland Military Department attorney Steven Tiedemann said in court records The Sun reviewed.
‘Fight club’
Lisbon and Roundtree, the other staffer implicated in the “fight club” investigation, faced criminal assault charges in federal court in January 2025.
However, the U.S. Attorney dropped the charges against both men. The prosecutor declined to comment.
“The prosecutors believed that witnesses would not appear or would be unreliable,” Tiedemann wrote in an email to The Sun.
“The [Maryland Military] Department simply had bad facts and it lost,” argued Lisbon’s attorneys, David Wright and Daniel Russo, in response to a motion by Tiedemann. “The Department’s arguments amount to … an attempt to distract this court by pointing to irrelevant criminal charges that have since been dismissed.”
However, an exhibit submitted on behalf of the state in Lisbon’s suit also alleges that the state improperly trained staffers to work with the at-risk youth they were charged with caring for.
Lisbon’s fellow staffer, Roundtree, wrote to Maryland National Guard head Adjutant Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead after his dismissal. In his letter, Roundtree alleged he was poorly trained for his position, which resulted in “unprofessional” conduct.
The letter was included in a response by the state.
“During my brief time at Freestate, I have always put my best efforts to fulfill my job responsibility,” Roundtree said in the letter. “Without having the proper training in policy and procedure, I was left to model myself after the example of my leadership, but to no avail. It led me on a path of unprofessional and self-destructive behavior.
“While this is no excuse … it did directly affect my understanding and knowledge of how to properly perform my duties,” Roundtree said.
Contact investigative journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com .
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