Atlanta TSA official detained at her own airport over a family dispute

ATLANTA - A few days after Christmas, a high-ranking TSA official stepped off an international flight at the same airport where she works, only to be detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

While it may sound like high-level intrigue, the FOX 5 I-Team has learned that the allegations against Maxine McManaman boil down to a nasty family squabble.

For years, McManaman has helped keep the skies safe, serving as Assistant Federal Security Director at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. She has served with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration for 21 years, almost since the TSA’s inception after 9/11.

Maxine McManaman, a high-ranking TSA official at the Atlanta airport, is being held without bond in the Clayton County jail, wanted on charges out of Florida. (Source: LinkedIn)

But since December 28, she’s been locked up in the Clayton County jail.  That was the day she returned from a vacation in Jamaica, according to her father, only to be met at the airport by federal officials. 

What could cause an official over security screening at the world’s busiest airport to be incarcerated during the holidays, held as a fugitive from justice?

A TSA worker screens a passenger at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Maxine McManaman serves as the agency's Assistant Federal Security Director in Atlanta. (FOX 5)

According to an investigator on the case – an accusation by her own brother. 

"She is accused of forging a quitclaim deed, where she had signed a document, basically conveying a property belonging to a family member over to her and her father," said Det. Amanda Bukata, of the Port St. Lucie, Fla., Police Department.

According to a narrative from a police affidavit, investigators believe McManaman and her father, Delroy Chambers Sr., filed an illegal property deed to finagle a Florida home out from under her brother, Delroy Chambers Jr., of Atlanta. Florida property records show the home appraised by the county at $321,500.

The house had been owned solely in their mother’s name since 2008, the affidavit says, and in 2010, the mother signed documents giving her son power of attorney.

Chambers Jr., told police that since then, their mother has been suffering from dementia, and that their father has been abusing and exploiting her, having her sign documents and failing to properly take care of her, resulting in his mother’s admission into a hospital multiple times.

But police said a major line was crossed in December 2022, when McManaman and her father signed a quitclaim deed placing the home in their own names. 

Maxine McManaman has been held at the Clayton County jail since Dec. 28, when she was detained at the Atlanta airport by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (Source: Port St. Lucie Police Department)

The deed left out any Jr./Sr. designations to make it appear that a Delroy Chambers, who had the son’s Atlanta address, had handed over the property to Maxine McManaman and Delroy Chambers, the police affidavit says. And "POA," or power of attorney, was jotted down next to McManaman’s signature. 

The son had proof that he was in Atlanta at the time and couldn’t have signed the deed, police records say.

The affidavit says a detective spoke to McManaman about all of this in April. She said her father was not abusing her mother and that she had power of attorney.

Police didn’t buy it.

"Going behind the owner’s back and saying that they are (the owners) and forging a document, as if he had given them the home, is a crime," Det. Bukata told FOX 5. "Their intent was to pass it off as if it was legal, which it was not." 

In a press release, Port St. Lucie Police said this is a case of "exploitation of a family member with dementia."

"There’s documentation that her prescription was not picked up, even though he was going to the same pharmacy to pick up his prescription," Det. Bukata said. "She had bedsores on her body, was not given her blood sugar medicine. She was brought to the hospital multiple times for dire situations." 

For his part in the case, Chambers Sr., was arrested in December and charged with two counts of exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult, two counts of forgery, and simple neglect of an elderly or disabled adult. He bonded out of the St. Lucie County Jail.

The mother is now in an assisted living facility in south Florida, according to the detective.

Delroy Chambers Sr., was arrested in December and bonded out of the St. Lucie County Jail. (Source: St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office)

Chambers Sr., 80, told the I-Team in a phone conversation, "It’s a family thing." He denied abusing his wife.

He said his daughter was only trying to prevent him from losing the home, and the truth will come out in court.  "All I want is to get my daughter out of (jail)," he said.

As for his son, the elder Chambers asked, "How can you do this to your sister?" 

McManaman is currently on leave from TSA, pending an investigation. She remains in jail without bond, awaiting extradition to Florida. She faces one count of forgery, a third-degree felony.