The leader of a rogue Baltimore police unit sobbed as he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in a corruption scandal prosecutors called "breathtaking". Officer Spencer Moore pleaded guilty to felony drug charges in February after Baltimore County officers said they saw him involved in a narcotics transaction. Elbert Davis killed, Phosa Cain injured in crash involving GTTF. Ive got an entire pharmacy, the sergeant told Stepp. The federal system has no parole, but following the sentence reductions both officers could be released to halfway houses soon, their attorneys said. The scope of the crimes and allegations are broad and follow a particularly notorious 2018, which included federal arrests and trials of officers of the GTTF, and another officer charged with drug trafficking. The driver of the second vehicle in the crash was taken to the hospital for minor injuries. All of the officers were convicted of overtime fraud - filing paperwork to claim work they never showed up to do. They were released in February 2022, serving less than five years behind bars. Court records, sentencing memorandums and Baltimore Sun archives show that at least 20 Baltimore police officers including some who are no longer with the department were either charged, sentenced, or suspended during 2019. Rayam had admitted to crimes dating back to 2009. They needed to make sure the city was held accountable," said Judson Lipowitz, an attorney for the family.In the April 2010 crash, then-members of the GTTF were chasing a car for about 45 seconds. 2023 BBC. After some of the tea hit Gentils car, he pulled a gun out and ordered Miller to get face down on the pavement. REPORTER: SOME OF THE OFFICERS INVOLVED IN THE TASK FORCE WERE CONVICTED IN FEDERAL COURT ON VARIOUS CHARGES. "We think the settlement is warranted due to the egregious facts in this case," said John Solter, an attorney for the family.Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a member of the Board of Estimates, said this case exemplifies the need for police reform, training and oversight. Townes had stopped while passing through the area when officers were arresting a person. This week, the last two officers still fighting the charges - Daniel Hersl and Marcus Taylor - were found guilty of robbery, conspiracy and racketeering, but acquitted of possession of a firearm in a crime of violence. Former police commissioner Darryl De Sousa was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison in New Jersey after pleading guilty in April to failing to file federal tax returns. Middletons charges were dropped eight months after the 2018 incident. King later said the tactics were imported by the departments New York police leadership, and blamed immense pressure to reduce crime as the reason he and some colleagues went bad. Please enter valid email address to continue. But most of the cops on the task force turned out to be every bit as gangster as the drug dealers and other criminals they were pursuing. Maurice Ward and Evodio Hendrix both got seven-year prison sentences. Baltimore city Police Captain Darryl Murphy was suspended in June, but the department declined to provide additional comments as to why. U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake handed down the punishment to former Gun Trace Task Force member Daniel Hersl, who had a reputation as a dirty officer stretching back years. The case has shone a light on deeply rooted problems known to Baltimore residents for years, said Vanita Gupta, who headed the DOJs civil rights division when the city agreed to a consent decree on sweeping police reforms. >> WE DID NOT GO ABOVE AND BEYOND TO MAKE SURE AND CHECK IN CHECKING THAT THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE SWORN TO PROTECT AND SERVE HADNT TURNED THEMSELVES IN THE BIGGEST GANG IN BALTIMORE. The extent of the GTTFs reign of terror on the city of Baltimore became more widely known in 2017, when eight members of the unit were indicted on charges of extortion, robbery, racketeering, and overtime fraud. The extent of the GTTF's reign of terror on the city of Baltimore became more widely known in 2017, when eight members of the unit were indicted on charges of extortion, robbery, racketeering,. He told the jury that after one particularly large score, Jenkins told them, "Don't be greedy. Some GTTF officers admitted in court that they would drive fast toward groups of people in the street and slam on the breaks. The elite Baltimore cops who became criminals. Neither sentence is unreasonable given the offense conduct in this case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Wilkinson wrote. A jury convicted OSullivan, 44, in October after finding he lied in court about a criminal case. Hersl is serving his time in Missouri. Rivera-Martinez, 32, was found guilty by a Baltimore City Circuit Court jury for beating then 16-year-old Melvin Townes in the face and head repeatedly with his taser after chasing him on North Gay Street at about 2 a.m. on July 5, 2016. A corrupt Baltimore City cop who was described as Baltimore Police's "golden boy" and widely viewed within the police department as "untouchable" is actually going to jail. Sgt. The city is accepting responsibility and is being held accountable after the Board of Estimates approved the settlement at its meeting Wednesday morning. The scandal broke at a time of struggle and high tensions between Baltimore community members and the police department. The public relations damage crested in October, when Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn Mosby said she had a list of hundreds of officers with alleged credibility issues. / CBS Baltimore. THEY NEEDED TO MAKE SURE THE CITY WAS HELD ACCOUNTABLE. Keith Gladstone pleaded guilty, Gladstones indictment came amidst the continuing investigation, eight city officers were convicted of racketeering offenses, In February former Baltimore police detective Momodu Gondo. This could happen anywhere from 10 to 20 times a night or, in some cases, 50 times a night. Shirley Johnson and her brothers and sisters relied on patience as they sought an apology and accountability almost 13 years after a crash killed their father, Elbert Davis Sr., and seriously injured their mother, Phosa Cain. Federal agents found unregistered assault rifles, cocaine residue and razors in his home. Rivera-Martinez was sentenced to six months in prison in August. Cell phone video outside of the Custom House Avenue strip club around 1:20 a.m., showed an officer pulling Middleton, who was off-duty, to the ground by her shirt collar. Their crimes, which went on for about a decade before officers in the unit were arrested in 2017, seemed straight out of the movies. Taylor is at a federal prison in northeast Arkansas. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang agreed with arguments put forward by attorneys for William King and Antonio Murray earlier this year under the First Step Act, noting that since their convictions in 2006 Congress has passed sentencing reforms that would have led to significantly shorter sentences if the officers were sentenced today. Sgt. Rivera-Martinez, 32, was found guilty by a Baltimore City Circuit Court jury for beating Melvin Townes, then 16, in the face and head repeatedly with his stun gun after chasing him on North Gay Street about 2 a.m. on July 5, 2016. Moore, a 14-year veteran with the department, was placed on unpaid suspension before his guilty plea and is no longer with the department. Testimony from four of the unit's former members revealed in greater detail the extent of the corruption and the lengths to which the GTTF would go to cover their tracks. Rayam was investigated for theft of $11,000 from a man that year. Gondo admitted he routinely stole cash from people's homes when given the opportunity, and split the take with his fellow officers. The note was left in the wife's door. A man named Ronald Hamilton testified that his car was stopped in 2016 by task force members, the station reported. Gladstones indictment came amidst the continuing investigation into police corruption allegations related to the Gun Trace Task Force scandal, in which eight city officers were convicted of racketeering offenses for robbing people using their badge. Rebuilding the Departments relationship with the community and restoring the publics trust in the Department are among Commissioner Harrisons highest priorities, police spokesman Matt Jablow wrote in a response to questions from the Sun. Evodio Calles Hendrix, 32, of . Police Commissioner Michael Harrison released a staffing plan earlier in December that calls for more than doubling the number of internal affairs detectives to help reduce backlogs and respond more swiftly to complaints against officers. Instead of getting rid of crime, police officers in the GTTF engaged in it, against the communities they were supposed to serve. In his plea, Gondo admitted to acting as a lookout during a home invasion, stealing money during arrests and searches as an officer, arranging the sale of a seized gun and marijuana, and taking thousands of dollars in unearned overtime pay from the city. Troy Snell, a former police officer in Baltimore and Philadelphia, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison in April for helping a member of the Gun Trace Task Force sell drugs on the street in Baltimore. Several protesters were arrested for disturbing the peace and Israeli media said at least six protesters were wounded. That is why this trial in Baltimore is so critical not just for what it reveals in and of itself, but also for showing the public that misconduct does not go unchecked.. A federal jury on Monday convicted two former members of a defunct Baltimore police gun task force in a corruption trial. He told the jury that on one occasion, he and Officer Taylor pulled rubbish from a house they needed a search warrant for and recovered evidence of marijuana. Two Baltimore plainclothes police detectives were convicted Monday of racketeering, robbery and fraud in a trial involving a wide range of criminal . "The bad outweighed the good.". A 2016 Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the BPD found that significant levels of abuse and corruption within the department had gone on for years. On 1 March, 2017, Sergeant Wayne Jenkins and six of his subordinate officers from the Gun Trace Task Force walked into the Baltimore Police Department's Internal Affairs building, believing. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. The First Step Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Trump in 2018, has led to a wave of sentence reductions, particularly in non-violent drug cases where defendants received lengthy sentences. But the gripping new book We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops, and Corruption puts that concern to rest. During the January incident, Kevin Miller stepped out to cross the highway where he was nearly hit by Gentils civilian car. A former detective testified that Gun Trace Task Force Sgt. Family seeks justice from city after crash involving GTTF, Family of man killed in 2010 crash linked to GTTF case files lawsuit, Baltimore pays out $575K in latest Gun Trace Task Force settlement, Lawyer of man who went to jail behind GTTF allegations talks settlement, GTTF police misconduct cases costs Baltimore another $500K, Rapper Young Moose to get $300K from city in Gun Trace Task Force settlement, Independent investigator releases Gun Trace Task Force report, I-Team: City taxpayers have spent over $14M to cover GTTF settlements, City set to pay out more than $10M in GTTF settlements, City Board of Estimates to consider more than $500K payout related to GTTF lawsuit, $1.1M in police misconduct settlements approved in Baltimore, Court rules city on hook for settlements in 2 Gun Trace Task Force lawsuits, Attorney: Baltimore City shouldn't have to pay settlements in GTTF case, Mosby seeks to have 790 'tainted' convictions thrown out, Leaders question if Baltimore should be financially responsible for GTTF lawsuits, Report details taxpayer payouts in Baltimore police misconduct cases, Lawsuit against former gun squad members seeks $40M, Former detectives found guilty in corruption trial, Get the WBAL-TV app; Sign up for email alerts, Baltimore pays out $575K in latest GTTF settlement. Police commissioner Fred Bealefeld says he purposefully chose to have the officers arrested at the police academy to serve as a reminder to the city and his officers of their commitment to. 2023, Hearst Television Inc. on behalf of WBAL-TV. King is grateful to the Court for recognizing that a reduction of his earlier sentence of 315 years was warranted, said attorney Steve Levin, who filed for the reduction along with Murrays attorney Andrew C. White. According to a new University of Illinois at Chicago study of just federal public corruption convictions by judicial district, Baltimore has become the second most corrupt jurisdiction in the countrywith a staggering 352 guilty pleas or verdicts over the past decade. The charges rocked BPD and the city of Baltimore. A Warner Bros. Court records show he received probation and a suspended prison sentence. A man they shook down went to the FBI, and authorities launched an investigation that found the officers were detaining and robbing drug dealers. It's just awful. Gun Trace Task Force fallout: Keith Gladstone. Vignola faces sentencing ranging from probation to five years in federal prison and is no longer with the department. Instead, they became hunters.. Prosecutors obtained text messages that showed conversations between Snell and family members dating back to 2014. Ward admitted stealing money during traffic stops and while executing search warrants. Henrietta Middleton outside of a strip club in August 2018. Baltimore City police told 11 News its officers started pursuing a car around 5 p.m . Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills. A guy who passed himself off as Jenkins representative, who is not a lawyer, was essentially one of his former cellmatesdrew this out for over a year," said Michael Bromwich, who led that investigation. Adapted from former Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fentons 2021 book We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops, and Corruption, the show chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most shocking instances of police corruption in Baltimores history. Hersl shared letters with WJZ where he still proclaims his innocence. Many people who read this book may come to the same conclusion that former Baltimore mayor Kurt L. Schmoke reached more than three decades ago, when he offered a radical proposal for rooting out the problem. Gladstones indictment came amid the continuing investigation into police corruption allegations related to the Gun Trace Task Force scandal, in which eight city officers were convicted of racketeering offenses for robbing people using their badge. Henon must . They specifically tracked one member, Momodu Gondo, who was believed to be working with drug dealers and possibly helping them circumvent drug charges. Read about our approach to external linking. He is serving the harshest sentence: 25 years in a Kentucky prison. One of the culprits that emerges from the book is the war on drugs itself. All but two remain in federal prison. Baltimore Police. If anyone ran, the officers would chase after them. He resigned four months later amid the tax charges. This includes a Philadelphia police officer, Eric Snell, who had previously been a part of the BPD and had ties to the GTTF. Former detectives Daniel Hersl and Marcus Taylor were convicted of. Taylor was characterised at trial as the youngest and most inexperienced officer on the task force. The public relations damage crested in October, when Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn Mosby said she had a list of hundreds of officers with alleged credibility issues. The men received $8 million in restitution, and some of the officers involved in the task force have been convicted in federal court on various charges. 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