Government Criminal Justice Roundup, week of 7/5

Baltimore's State's Attorney's Office:

COUPLE SENTENCED IN HANDGUN CASE

July 9, 2008 – Today, Judge John Carroll Byrnes sentenced Dyrell Ricks, 22, and Mary Lou Walker Ricks, 24, of the 1900 block of Alto Vista Avenue for handgun convictions. Dyrell Ricks, 22, was sentenced to five years without parole for prohibited possession of a regulated firearm and three years suspended with three years supervised probation on handgun in vehicle. His wife, Mary Lou Walker Ricks was sentenced to probation before judgment with two years supervised probation on one court of wear, carry, or transporting a handgun on her person. Mrs. Ricks has no prior convictions. Both will be required to register with the Gun Offender Registry Act.

A Baltimore city jury found each guilty on May 1, 2008 based on the following summary of facts. On May 11, 2007 in the 2600 Block of Harford Road at 1:30 a.m. officers of the Baltimore Police Department stopped a vehicle matching the description of a vehicle mentioned at roll call. As police approached the vehicle the passenger Dyrell Ricks ran from the vehicle but was stopped a short distance away. The driver of the vehicle was Mary Walker. Officers located a Taurus 9mm handgun loaded with 3 rounds in plain view in a bag on the front passenger side of the floor.

Assistant State's Attorney Charles Fitzpatrick of the Homicide Division prosecuted this case.

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BALTIMORE CITY GRAND JURY INDICTS GEORGE THOMPSON FOR SOLICITATION TO COMMIT FIRST DEGREE MURDER AND CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT FIRST DEGREE MURDER

Baltimore, MD – July 10, 2008 – State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy announced today that the Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted George Thompson, 37 of the 1400 block of Shefford Road, for solicitation to commit first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder.

Court documents allege that on June 12, 2008 George Thompson solicited and conspired with an associate to kill his wife.

An arraignment hearing is scheduled for August 4, 2008 before Judge Michel Pierson, Room 329, Courthouse East.

US Attorney's Office:

Maurice Young, age 43, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to bank robbery with a dangerous weapon and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. The guilty plea came during the fifth day of his trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

See the full release here.
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U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson sentenced Joel Travis Nunnally, age 28, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, today to 154 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for armed bank robbery and use of a firearm during a crime of violence, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Nickerson also ordered Nunnally to pay restitution of $2,228.

See the full release here.
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Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Erick Wotulo, age 61, a citizen of the Republic of Indonesia, and a retired Indonesian Marine Corps General, today to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and money laundering, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Wotulo will be deported from the United States after serving his sentence in federal prison.

See the full release here.

It's Friday Night, Does the BPD Know Where Your Kids Are?

Curbing Crime with Child Curfew Centers? (Say that five times fast). Not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, if it will keep kids out of trouble (and harm, in this case) perhaps it has its merits. On the other hand, should the Government be responsible for enforcing certain behavior that the parents should? Also, is it a violation of rights by holding them?

The parents have had their say, but what do you think?

Friday, part uno

Around 2am this morning in North Baltimore, a man was shot after allegedly charging an officer with a knife. This marks the 12th police shooting this year. Clearly he's never heard the saying, "Never bring a knife to a gunfight."

Police have made arrests in the murders of Robert Long (#42), and Sandy Howard (#94).

"Name that Campaign" Contest: The Baltimore City State's Attorney's office has just received a grant to hire a Social Worker that will help women charged with prostitution.
Pick a catchy name for this new project. And... go!

From the "GO ON..." Department: Johns Hopkins Hospital was rated as the best hospital in the US for the 18th straight year. In the meantime, Baltimore's been a violent cesspool for many years. Coincidence? I think not...

... I mean, after all, why should our dear mayor care about crime in Baltimore when there are WNBA teams to get and Cell phones to keep from your employees while driving? WNBAStat and CellphoneStat, here we come!

I don't know who to be more annoyed with about this, the Police or the Prosecutors: The State's Attorney's office could be dropping hundreds of cases (possibly) after finding some of the cops may be no good, crooked liars.

Anna Ditkoff continues to illuminate the idiocy of the town we all live in in the News Hole. Hmm. When I think about the criminal behavior in this city juxtaposed to the level of precision and concern, I think Baltimore reminds me of another kind of hole...

Lewin Powell, Jr. comes to the defense of his son, currently charged with beating his mother to death with a baseball bat.

Deer hunters will now be allowed at the Loch Raven Reservoir pretty soon. Whether or not this will lead to more deer kills is unknown but I suspect it may cause more 'accidental' shootings over drinking the last Natty Boh.

BaltCo police are currently looking for a driver connected with a hit and run last night that left three people injured.

More to come today...

BCrime, TBC Style - Get in on It

Rather than subject our loyal visitors to a non-centralized location to get their crime fix, I've opted to help out for the time being.

Baltimore's "Little Dear" population doesn't rest, and neither will we. See you on the comment boards...

BCrime is on hiatus ...

please leave a messsage!

I'm so hungry, I could rob at Arby's

FHB-III: Two of five working-girl stranglings "are not related."

The Ink documents a "conspicuous spike" in murders;
the city's recent shootapalooza is worrying Bealefeld.

Read and learn how drug dealers launder money with used cars.
(The CP assures us that their site is safe, it was hacked several days ago but is now fixed.)

115 juvenile offenders have been arrested on outstanding warrants.

Maurice Young, 43, pleaded guilty to home invasion, string of bank robberies

Why do the child rapists always flee to Baltimore?

Suprise, surprise, Dixon says there's only one way to keep criminals from being released by mistake: "a large infusion of money"

Blotter: Take the cell phone, leave the roast beef sandwiches

Doug Gansler got $200k and a cleanup deal from Velsicol Chemical Co. in Easton.

Interesting comments on the WSJ's "Baltimore=hellhole" Op-Ed

Hope to see you all tonight at "Happy" "Hour"!

July 9

Another strangled woman was found on Monday, the fifth since April. Police have created a squad to investigate, and have seemingly changed their tune from "the cases aren't related" to "it is way too early to tell if any of the cases are related."

Only in Baltimore! A man who was shot in the chest drove himself to the ER at JH hospital, literally.

Carolyn Pierce of the E: Wendell Keys, 40, of Gwynn Oak, is being tried in a cold-case rape that detectives cracked using DNA from a woman abducted outside a Linthicum nightclub almost 18 years ago.

Police found the parents of that wandering toddler, and his babysitter got a generous job offer from the District Court Commissioner's office.

19-year-old Quadir Butcher was indicted in the death of Derrell E. Smith, who was one of two men shot on the front porch of a rowhouse June 2.

You can have your records expunged if you were detained and released without charge, or your name is Keith Mills.

Seven Shootings and an Oopsie

Another mistaken release?! Police are now ISO horse-trader Nathan Parker, 28, let out by accident. That's three oopsies in a week! Butterfingers!

A shooting at 6 a.m. today at an apartment complex in Parkville.

An arrest in the Mt. Royal road-rage shootings last February!

WTF? A man was shot in the foot but ran 4 1/2 miles to the hospital!
... and three other shootings that Chuck may have already blogged.

At a hearing today Aaron Davis, 33, of the 800 block of Lynhurst Street, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder. Judge Gale E. Rasin sentenced Davis to five years in prison, the maximum penalty allowable under law. Details:

On October 18, 2007 at approximately 2:20PM in the 1800 block of Walbrook Ave. Baltimore Police were in the area on patrol when they saw the victim running from an unknown male, later identified as Lorenzo Speight. Officers saw Speight firing a handgun at Darren Mebane, 21. Speight fatally shot Mebane and police saw him get into a waiting vehicle driven by Aaron Davis. Officers pursued the car and eventually police apprehended Speight, who had jumped from the vehicle, in an alley near Dukeland and Baker Streets. A .357 revolver was located on the roof of a nearby address, 1501 Dukeland St., and ballistics later showed it was the murder weapon. The vehicle was registered to Davis.

Lorenzo Speight, 33, of the 700 block of Mt. Holley St. pleaded guilty in February to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and was sentenced to life suspend all but 30 years in prison. Assistant State’s Attorney David M. Grzechowiak of the Homicide Division prosecuted this case.

Evening Update

Since there's nothing legal about "abated by arrest," it's good news that "Thousands of Marylanders have had their arrest records removed from public view because of a new state law that requires automatic expungement for those who are detained and released without charge."

"The family and friends of Elizabeth Walters came to Baltimore County Circuit Court on Monday expecting some measure of closure with the sentencing of David Lee Miller, convicted in March of killing Walters and their unborn child. Instead, because of an apparently misplaced court order, Walters’ loved ones must return in September to learn Miller’s fate." This is shocking? Danny Jacobs must be the new guy.

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Herlinda Rodulfo, 25, of Brooklyn, Maryland on charges of first-degree murder. Court documents allege on May 17, 2008 Herlinda Rodulfo was responsible for a shooting incident in the 800 block of Pontiac Avenue. Valerie Barnes, 19, was found lying on the rear steps in the unit block suffering from several gunshot wounds. She died later at Shock Trauma. An arraignment is scheduled for July 28, 2008 before Judge W. Michel Pierson, Room 329 Courthouse East.

Jarmarl Jones got 20 federal years for the her-ron.

Get your salvia before it's hot!

The First (and Maybe Only) - Ever Baltimore Crime "Happy" Hour!

Chuck's retiring and we're considering some site changes. Let's meet, drink and celebrate his great contributions to the local snark and outrage quotient!

Thursday July 10 (yes THIS Thursday), 6 p.m. @ Club Charles

It would be a crime to miss it! Har!

July 7

Huh. Seems like the Sun has all the gory details today. If anyone has any non-Sun links, stick 'em in the comments, por favor.

After all the shootings over the weekend, you'd think we'd be out of ammo, but we've got bullets to spare!

• 28-year-old Kenneth Baker was fatally shot while he was sitting in a car in the 2600 block of E. Preston St. early Sunday morning.
• Two men were shot last night, one in the 3500 block of Reisterstown Rd. in the Northwestern, and one at Charles and North near the fancy schmancy Station North Arts District (and the not-so-fancy schmancy Club Choices).
• And it's not just the city, folks. In AAC, two guys robbed an off-duty cop in Pasadena then fired a shot into his car.

The police shooting at a "rowdy" 4th of July party in the Southwestern happened when three guys in a car rolled by the cops and started shooting at them. The cops, apparently, had better aim than the guys in the car.
Also, police have released the names of the shooters. I'm sure the White family's got a few items between them on the JIS!

Looks like "Bob" was a suicide.

An inmate at the minimum-security Brockbridge Correctional Center in AAC was stabbed yesterday. He was taken to UMMC, was in stable condition, was uncooperative, and had not escaped from police custody. Yet.

This one just speaks for itself: "A woman, 18, was watching two men fight in the 1000 block of W. Baltimore St. about 1 a.m. Friday when someone stole her purse."

Also in the Blotter (above link), someone stole a pit bull puppy from a house on McElderry St. Since the dog was a rescue from the SPCA, there's a fair chance that it wasn't going to be fought, but now I'd bet that chances of a happy life for that puppy are pretty much shot to shit.

Holy shit! There's something else in the Blotter that I just saw. SOMEONE STOLE A GPS FROM A PARKED CAR!!! That's fucking crazy!

Two local econ profs slam the city's business-unfriendliness in the WSJ: "If you've seen HBO's 'The Wire,' you know why those of us who live in Baltimore are often asked whether our city really is the hellhole it is portrayed to be on TV. Our answer is, well, yes. .. The city has waged a war on capital for more than 50 years, raising property taxes an astonishing 21 times from 1950 to 1985."

14 shot in two days

Reports el duce:

The first shooting was reported at around 12:30 a.m. on the [1] 300 block of South Monroe Street in south Baltimore. According to police, a man was found suffering from a gunshot wound to his chest at that location. He was taken to an area hospital with severe injuries. Homicide was called to the scene.

Nearly a half hour later at 1 a.m. police got a call for a [2,3] double shooting on the 3000 block of Elizabeth Avenue also in south Baltimore. Both victims were taken to area hospitals where their conditions are unknown at this time.

Then at 1:23 a.m., [4] a third shooting was reported in south Baltimore. This one was on the 300 block of South Bentalou Street. A male who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the side took himself to St. Agnes Hospital. He was reportedly shot on Bentalou Street.

Just a few minutes after that, at 1:35 a.m., police in west Baltimore were called to the 2200 block of Dukeland Street. [5] A woman was shot in the leg at that location. She was taken to an area hospital where she is expected to make a fully {sic} recovery.

... there were also [6, 7, 8] one shot plus two killed by police, but let's not count "Bob" in the Harbor. And then there are two more [9, 10], one on 21XX Hollins, one location unknown.
Then Thursday you'll recall a triple on Federal [11, 12, 13] and the [14] 15-year-old in Govans.

... in other news, Border & customs found some stolen cars en route to Nigeria and Niger, which are, apparently, two totally different countries.

Bang, bang, bang. Bang.

A triple last night in the 1600 block of East Federal Street. Everybody lived!

A 15-year-old was shot in the ankle yesterday in Govans.

As galt reported in comments, attempted murderer Calvin Boswell was released from jail by accident, a day after his conviction!

WTF?! "At least four people were injured in a brawl involving golf clubs and baseball bats at an Abingdon elementary school Wednesday night."

July 3

Luke B. brings out the June homicide recap. It's nice to know that Bealefeld's pissed. Makes me like the guy even more.

WTF? The dude who murdered Brandon Allen was the same guy who almost got killed by the man Allen was testifying against. This city is fucking insane sometimes.

In the "better late than never" department, the Sun finally got around to writing about murder victim Chicas Santiago, who was found beaten on June 23 in Patterson Park.

Nothing I can say about the moronic circumstances of Marcus Anderson's escape would be as eloquent as what Judge Bernstein said: "If I were a young enterprising criminal, I'd come to Baltimore to set up my practice. This is the place to be. This is the Promised Land."

If you see a Crip in West or South Baltimore whose family is trying to hide him, he just might be suspected murderer Kevin Randolph. And if you see a guy wearing a Seattle Mariners cap, he might be the one who shot a man on Argyle Ave. on Tuesday night. Let's hope he doesn't think to disguise himself by taking off his hat.

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the ankle near Cold Spring and The Alameda.

Some guy in Annapolis got arrested three times in 14 hours.

Crawl-space killer Vaughn Garris pleaded guilty yesterday to killing his neighbor, Chontae Waters. Because he 'fessed up, he got life instead of the death penalty.

A former high school pitcher pleaded guilty to having way too much of the wacky tabaccy. He lost his baseball scholarship and everything.

how could that possibly be legal?!

The CP reports that retiring police officers are not paid earned comp time when they retire unless they sign a highly unusual and very broad gag order.

... also, the CP has more on the wild world of bail bonds.

Need a laff? Enjoy "Carroll Park fitness trail symbols redux."

Alleged Baby-Killer Indicted

The Baltimore City Grand Jury has indicted Jeanine Blackwell, 34, of the 300 block of S. Monroe Street on charges of murder and child abuse resulting in death. Court documents allege on March 9, 2008 Jeanine Blackwell was responsible for the death of her newborn son, delivered in the toilet of a home in the 300 block of S. Monroe Street and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. An arraignment is scheduled for July 25, 2008 before Judge Sylvester B. Cox, Room 203, Mitchell Courthouse.

Forged checks, gun-toting teens and a robber shot in the knee in the blotter.

July 2

Three murders and a whole bunch of follow-ups in the Ink. This is the first I've heard about the beating death of Chicas Santiago in the 2600 block of Baltimore St., next to Patterson Park.

There was a shooting Monday night on Mosher and N. Calhoun, and a kid near Druid Hill Park acted like a dick to the wrong homeless man.

Should it really be this easy to escape from custody? "After getting out of the transport van at St. Paul and Fayette streets, (Marcus) Anderson took off running..."

Three teens in Brooklyn Park were arrested for two carjackings. In one of them, one of the kids punched a pregnant woman in the stomach.

Paul Justin Krastas got 59 days for an attempted rape in Brooklyn Park last fall. He allegedly picked up a 13-year-old girl, carried her into his grandmother's basement, and pulled down her pants before he was interrupted.

Yet another son of Cindy McKay has been charged with murder for helping mommy to kill her boyfriend in 2006.

Cordero Taylor got off on an attempted murder charge for the stabbing of a 17-year-old outside the Columbia Mall, but he got hit with first degree assault.

Master Giddins got five years for buying gas for a Remington firebombing.

The bones found in HarCo last week are not from a homicide victim.

Larry in the Henhouse

tonight's Larry King is "Women Behind Bars" at MD's women's correctional facility in Jessup, and features Felicia "snoop" Pearson.
Scary stats: Warden Brenda Shell says 35% of inmates are on psychotropic meds, and the recidividism rate is @45%. Also, the fish is a little dry.
Q: the women kept saying "there is no self-defense law in Maryland." What do they mean by that?

CNN also covers the alleged 'vigilante' killing of Ronnie White in pgc.

Sounds like a serial killer

Janis: Four prostitutes strangled since April, nine unsolved strangulations of women since '03, but police do not believe there's link between the cases.
As readers may recall, police also publicly denied a link when old people were being robbed and killed in 2005; the crimes turned out to be the work of serial killer Raymont Hopewell. Considering how unusual and labor-intensive strangulation is, it's hard to believe that it's all just a horrible coincidence.
Meanwhile, AngerHangover's post on the murder of Amanda Bishop has generated some interesting comments.

This list of the "22 rules for street mongering" is one educational read!

Police are ISO a robbery suspect in Prada sunglasses.

"DaJuan Marshall, 26, of the 3800 block of Byfield Road was being held at Central Booking and Intake Center on June 25 when authorities there learned of an outstanding warrant charging him with killing Kenneth Cooper Jones."

Former Democratic state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell checks into federal prison today. The judge apparently didn't agree with Olesker that he'd punished himself enough already.

Adam Meister uses the word "urinate" five times in this anti-SA's office Meistertorial.

Franklin Morgan is behind Joy Shushinsky all the way, and has some suggestions for Hampden's bored teenagers.