Eight Federal Years for Kendell Richburg

Kendell Richburg, via MySpace

KR via MySpace

Kendell Richburg deserves his own novella and HBO mini-series, but it's Sunday night so this will have to suffice: At 36 he's just been awarded eight years in prison for conspiracy to distribute heroin and possession of a firearm.
    Is that too little considering how he framed grandmas with planted drugs* to boost his own arrest numbers? or is it too much, given that he started out as a good cop by partnering with an informant, yet evidently succumbed to BPD pressure to juke the stats *? Explains Slate,

Richburg did these things not for personal gain, but to benefit a confidential informant who fed him information that helped him make arrests. In order to keep his confidential informant on the street, Richburg gave him drugs that he could sell. Richburg tipped off the informant to police activity, helping him avoid arrest. But eventually, their arrangement took a more sinister turn."

Notably, Richburg was assigned to the VCIS,* the notoriously 'maverick' BPD department that groomed such mavericky mavericks as Jemini Jones. Richburg's defense: he was one of many* who "misrepresented facts." No doubt.
   So then what has became then of all of Richburg's many cases? And how has the police department changed procedures to prevent perverse incentives leading to malfeasance so police quit planting pot on grandmas? While O'Malley cabal's PR machine can find a high-schooler's personal photos from four months ago it can't muster comment on this case, apparently.

Feds Subpoena Flex Squad Records

"A federal grand jury has subpoenaed run sheets, log books, and personnel files of at least five members of the Baltimore Police Department's disbanded Southwest 'Flex Squad' ..."

Murder of 17-year-old Herbert Carsten Jr. (39) may have been gang-related

Your tax $ at work: "Suit reveals millions in city pension giveaways"

County
"Baltimore County Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a vehicle and two men wanted for the assault on a Baltimore County police officer that occurred on March 1 at approximately 2:16 a.m. in Precinct 9/White Marsh."

Have you seen this short, pudgy (alleged) perv with circumflex brows?

May 18

El Janis: "Hamm admits to police overtime abuse"

Robert Perlie, 16, was ID'd as the victim who died at 2:36 yesterday morning of a gunshot wound to the head on the 200 block of N. Dallas Court.

Blotterania:
Carroll Hugh Bell, 51, of Philadelphia, was arrested Wednesday by Philadelphia police and charged with the 1990 rape and murder of Beverly Dixon.
Puzzling sentence o the day: "A man was reported in good condition at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center after he was shot in the face"
A 19-year-old was shot in the arm on E. 27th street
and what is the deal with gunmen yelling "kick it out"?

"A 28-year-old man was seriously wounded in a shooting early this morning near the corner of Greenmount Avenue and East 29th Street, Baltimore police said."

More on the Jemini Jones conviction.

The gov. vetoed two crime-related bills Wednesday: the drug-dealer parole thing and also one that would let the police sell guns back to manufacturers.

PGC women are advised to gird their loins "after two recent sexual assaults and an armed robbery occurred within days and a few miles of each other."

Night

From the SA's office:

• A Baltimore City jury convicted Ronald Sparkman, 21, of the 1500 block of E. Madison St., of three counts of first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence today following two days of testimony and more than four hours of deliberations. Sparkman faces a maximum possible prison term of life plus 20 years in prison when sentenced by Judge M. Brooke Murdock July 3, 2007. Details:

  On January 14, 2005 at approximately 10PM officers were called to the 1600 block of E. Madison St. for a serious shooting. The victim, Ralph “West” Pritchett, was found lying face down in the street. He died at Johns Hopkins Hospital which was a few blocks away. The investigation revealed that Ronald Sparkman shot the victim five times in the back over a drug dispute. The trial lasted two days and the jury deliberated approximately 4 hours before reaching its guilty verdict. Sparkman remains held without bail at the Baltimore City Detention Center. Assistant State's Attorney Brian M. Fish prosecuted the case.



• In a hearing today Judge John Carroll Byrnes found Jemini Jones, 29, of the 4700 block of Ivanhoe Avenue, guilty of wear/carry/transport a handgun in a vehicle and fleeing and eluding police after a statement of facts was placed on the record by the prosecutor. Judge Byrnes sentenced Jones to a three year suspended prison term and three years probation for the handgun count and a concurrent one year suspended prison term, three years probation and a $1,000 fine for the fleeing and eluding count. Details:

  On October 1, 2006 Jones ran a red light at the intersection of East 33rd St. and Frisby St. Police attempted to stop the vehicle Jones was driving. The vehicle did not stop. Police followed the vehicle at a high rate of speed and it eventually stopped in an alley off the 800 block of East 34th St. Police recovered a handgun from the vehicle. Jones' right to carry a handgun had been suspended. Assistant State's Attorney Doug Ludwig, Chief of the Firearms Investigation Violence Enforcement (FIVE) Division, prosecuted this case.

• A Baltimore City jury convicted Gregory Kearney, 24, of the 2200 block of Homewood Avenue, May 14, 2007 of possession of a regulated firearm after a disqualifying conviction and handgun on person. Judge Joseph H.H. Kaplan sentenced Kearney to five years without parole for the first count and a concurrent three year prison term for the second count. The facts:

  On August 8, 2006 police officers were on patrol in the area of the 1700 block of Aisquith Street when they observed Gregory Kearney in the area. The police officers know the area to be one of high drug activity. People in the area alerted others to police presence including Gregory Kearney. Kearney started walking out of the area and was observed holding a small handgun by the police. Gregory Kearney then threw the handgun and started to run. Police officers recovered a .32 caliber revolver and arrested him. Assistant State's Attorney David M. Grzechowiak of the Firearms Investigation Violence Enforcement (FIVE) Division prosecuted this case.

May 17

Another murder early this morning in the Dunbar-Broadway neighborhood in East Baltimore, and last night's murder victim was ID'd as Earl Sonny Cornish III.

Wow, a teeny fleck of hope ... City Council Vice President Robert W. Curran is trying to stop the killing with a bill that calls for "heightened police enforcement" in "declared emergency areas," a proposal based on Philadelphia's successful plan.
The mayor's response was "lukewarm."

SA's office: Police Officer Jemini Jones is being qualified to plea (as in, agreeing to certain facts presented to the Court by the State, asserting that his plea is both knowing and voluntary and that he knows his rights, right to trial, right to confront etc.) on the handgun violation indictment.

In Baltimore County, three people were shot outside of Coco's Bar and Grill early this morning, and one man was shot in the first block of Dundalk Ave. In recent city shootings, a man was shot on Wednesday morning while cutting through the Clifton Park golf course, and a 43-year-old man was shot in the Southeastern "for no apparent reason."

Two homicide ID's in the Blotter, one erroneous (second link above): 30-year-old Nathaniel Hicks was killed on Monday morning in the 2500 block of Garrett Ave., and 19-year-old Deandre Salmond (not "Almond") was fatally shot in the head in the 500 block of S. Smallwood St. on Tuesday night.

Howard High School counselor Alan Silberman was arrested and charged after HoCo police found crack in his car.

The Wachovia Bank on Merritt Ave. in Dundalk was robbed by a man who stuck his hand in his shirt. Police are seeking a mustachioed white man with a penchant for colorful stripes.

The house where Antown Arthur, Nathan Gulliver, and Steven Matthews were murdered in 2005 caught on fire on Tuesday.

Gross incompetence at the Maryland Division of Corrections led to alleged murderer James Burton's release and subsequent re-arrest on "escape" charges.

It took less than four hours for a BaltCo jury to sentence Gaumer to life in prison.

The death of Rey Rivera remains a mystery.

A vandal in Parkville seems to think that racism = peace.

Crime tip of the day: If you get hit with paying a customer $17,000 that you stole from him, don't try to get the money by threatening your local bank manager.

Crime tip of the day, #2: If you're going to flee the scene of an accident, make sure your license plate number isn't embedded in the filth of the car that you hit.

The demolition of 30 apartment buildings in Hillbilly Heights began this morning.

May 16

In the Blotter: a homeless woman was shot on S. Hilton Street.

Zachary James, one of the city's "youngest and most brazen murder suspects," pled guilty and will serve 60 years, 10 without the possibility of parole, for the murders of 34-year-old Richard Smith and 32-year-old Michael Freeman.

Gaumer begged for his life and apologized to Josie Brown's family.
Here's a link posted a long time back about the case on Huff's Crime Blog, which includes comments from more than one woman he dated after he murdered Josie Brown.

Pretrail motions in the Jemini Jones gun-possession case began this morning before Judge John Carroll Byrnes.

Terrell Heath, 31, was killed by a police taser, the "second in [the] city in a month related to stun guns."

Ditkoff: "For the second week in a row Baltimore City has more homicides than days. This is the fourth week this year with eight or more homicides." Todd Little, Antwoine Hawkins, Gerald Wilson, William Curtis, Michael Davis, Thomas Mouzon Jr., and the murder heard by our reader on 25th street was ID'd as Deandre Hatcher, age 17. And updates!

Jezum crow! Ms. Ditkoff lightly grills the city council president on the details of the vaxingly vague noise bill and gets beyond-idiotic answers. Good gravy, if you had a private-sector job and tried to pass answers like this over on your bosses .... ("How significant a problem is noise in the city?" "I don't know the exact number..." "Who would make the decision that someone is being too loud?" "We're still working that out.") If you voted for her ever, please kick yourself in the nuts right now.

And more CP: Tenant "Willing to Fight a Million-Dollar Libel Suit For His Right to Call His Landlord a Crook"

Dog-walker Katie Wainwright reports that eight cops from the Southern spent a half-hour ticketing owners of unleashed dogs in in Riverside Park.

Spotted

Cleared cop Jemini Jones with five cronies in two not-very-unmarked cars clogging the parking lot at Joe's Bike Shop on Falls Road around 5 p.m. Inside Jemini checked out a $1700 model but left without a purchase, followed by a car (#1903) which, rather than waiting to turn out of the shop, swicthed on the siren and the lights to turn South, then swerved across the double-yellow lines on the Falls Road blind hill.

May 10

A man was shot to death this morning in the 300 block of 23 1/2 Street in Barclay.

"MySpace murderer" and former UMBC student John Gaumer was found guilty by a jury in Towson this afternoon.

Brian Cotter, 19, was arrested for the murder of 18-year-old Dundalkian Raymond Zubrowski.

Cleared officer Jemini Jones will get his back pay.

Thirunavukarasu Varatharasa, the fourth Tamil Tiger defendant, pled guilty today to "conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempted exportation of arms and munitions."

In the Blotter, arrests for shootings on Tuesday; one William Salmeron was arrested in NC for the 2006 murder of Jose Mendoza.

Damon Holmes, 15, of the 6600 block of Old Harford Road, pled guilty to Second Degree Murder, Use of Handgun of Crime of Violence, and Robbery with a Deadly Weapon; on May 31, 2006, Damon Holmes shot and killed Oumar Bah, 28, (left) in the 7100 block of McClean Blvd. Bah was a cab operator who had picked up Holmes on Northern Parkway. After shooting Bah, Holmes took money from Bah's cab. Sentencing is set for 9 a.m. on June 29 before the Honorable Lynn Stewart, in Room 215 of the Clarence Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse. Holmes faces a maximum of 40 years in prison.

Indictments from the SA's office:

Jonathan Watkins, 53, of the 3000 block of Belmont Avenue on charges of first-degree murder May 4. Court documents allege on March 9, 2007 Jonathan Watkins was the last person seen walking with Anthony Bryan, 36, in the rear of the 3000 block of Rosedale Court. Mr. Bryan was found with a gunshot wound to the head. He died a short time later at University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Dajuan Carter, 22, of the 1300 block of Ellwood Avenue on charges of first-degree murder. Court documents allege Dajuan Carter was identified as the suspect in the March 27 shooting of Ronald Harmon, 17. Mr. Harmon was found on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound to the head in the 2500 block of E. Biddle Street. He died a short time later from his injuries.

Korey Harris, 18, of the 300 block of Bridgeview Road on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder; court documents allege on April 19, 2007 two shootings occurred in the 2400 block of Seabury Road in which Harris was identified as the suspect. The first victim, Christopher Wayman was found with a gunshot wound to the head. The second victim was shot in the back and survived his injuries. Mr. Wayman died a short time later at University of Maryland Shock Trauma.

Orville Earl Cooper, 24, of the 600 block of South Wickham Road on charges of rape, robbery, second, third and fourth -degree sex offense, and kidnapping; court documents allege on January 1, 2006 in the 4200 block of Frederick Road, Orville Cooper approached a mass transit patron, exited his car, threatened the patron into his car with a weapon and committed a first degree sex offense. Court documents also allege on February 15, 2006 Orville Cooper robbed, assaulted and raped a passenger of his sedan transportation service. AND Court documents ALSO allege that on April 2, 2006, Orville Cooper, parked his vehicle several feet ahead of a pedestrian, exited his vehicle, approached the pedestrian with a weapon, and then forced the pedestrian into his car, and robbed, assaulted and raped the pedestrian. AND Court documents ALSO allege that on July 8, 2006, Orville Cooper, approached the window of a parked car, pretended to be a police officer, robbed and assaulted the occupants seated in the car. Crikey!

Ravens quarterback Steve McNair was arrested for DUI in Tennessee after he refused to take a breathalyzer test ... even though he wasn't driving.

Nichole Franklin of Baltimore, Wade Johnson of Annapolis, and James Jones of Annapolis were arrested for forging prescriptions.

... speaking of, somebody sploshed paint on certain looming, flabby jowls on an 83 billboard. Robert Murrow, a spokesman for the city's Department of Public Works: "it looks great!" They Say it'll be fixed by tomorrow, so enjoy the view tonight!

April 15

WTF?! Someone poured sulfuric acid on the playground equipment at Victory Villa Elementary in Middle River, sending a two-year-old to the hospital.

Oh good, the Sun says our gang problem's hemorrhaging.
Actually, it sounds like the problem's doing pretty well for itself.
For would-be Blood teens, "you get a secret handshake, you get some special clothes, and automatically, you've got 300 friends" and may get to learn Swahili. As for cops, "having gang members openly wearing colors and identifying themselves publicly makes it easier to track criminal activity." And the neighbors get BBQs!
...though (in Part I) gang founders admit "we never fed the people like the Black Panthers did."

PdJ: Bethesda dentist David E. Fuster of MoCo, who fled to Mexico after being accused of drugging a 15-year-old with nitrous oxide and raping her.

Jemini Jones wants his job and reputation back.

BMore living tip: if you suspect someone's overdosed, give e'm mouth-to-mouth instead of trying to set their fingers on fire.

Evening

Jemini Jones' Second Set of Charges Dropped
"Two months after a city jury acquitted a Baltimore officer of one set of rape charges, city prosecutors today dropped a second set of rape charges against him."
He faces trial again in two weeks for illegally carrying a handgun.

William Thomas Parrish III, 25, of Reisterstown, allegedly kidnapped, beat, burned, tattooed and raped a woman at his grandfather's house in Finksburg.

A man shot ot death in Woodlawn was ID'd as Jamar Mackie, 24.

April, Fools!

On the dock this week:
Tomorrow: Jemini Jones' second rape trial is scheduled to get going (presumably at 9:30 a.m.) at 236 Mitchell.
Also Sean Braxton, accused of robbing plainclothesed HoCo policemen.
Wednesday, no fewer than six murder trials are scheduled to begin, along with the usual.
The Schedule:

Chris Andrew Ward double MURDER TRIAL part 45 (robyne szokoly)
Kendrick McCain (juv, 15, charged with light rail murder) MURDER JUV TRANSFER HEARING 228E (paul oconnor)
Leshawn Green (pizza parlor murder, att murder) TRIAL part 46 (diana smith)
Roy McMillian, BPD Raid, gun and drugs part 45 2:00pm 236M (jason silverstein)
Dean Crater, 4B01859834~Murder 1st~ARRG~Judge Welch~Rm 228E~Don Giblin, ASA (forced entry along w/another person & fatally shot Arnilo Handy in 2nd floor bedroom)
~Paul Highfield, 6B01860480~Murder 2nd~Prelim Hrg~Hargrove~Rm 2~8:30 (CO-DEF DESTINY D'URSO, MOM ACCUSED OF KILLING 2 YR OLD, SON ANTHONY D'URSO)

Friday the 6th, the SA's schedule notes,
Child-murderer Donald Washington is DISPO (? Giving a disposition?) with Julie Drake
and Vivian Day is due on 1st-degree murder charges. Day is accused of wrapping the body of her lover, Nelsene Burnette, in plastic and leaving it in the closet of her apartment for three days.
Blarfghhhh.