`Stop Snitching' video participant charged

A 28-year-old Baltimore man who appeared in the infamous Stop Snitching witness-intimidation video has been charged with drug conspiracy by a federal grand jury, prosecutors announced yesterday.

Sherman Kemp and his co-defendant, Isaac Gomez, 25, of Fairview, N.J., were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Kemp, who appears in the video, is also charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm while committing a drug trafficking crime and illegal possession of a firearm while a convicted felon.

The sealed indictment was returned June 28 and unsealed July 13 after Kemp and Gomez were arrested, federal authorities said. According to the four-count indictment, Kemp and Gomez conspired to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine from March to June 2007.

Kemp and Gomez each could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison on the most serious charge if convicted, according to prosecutors. Kemp was ordered detained after a hearing yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Gomez had his initial appearance on July 13 in federal court in New York and has been held pending his transfer to Maryland.