Attorney S Office

Law enforcement officials wanted a Freeland man with nine lives dead or alive. Yesterday, they got him.Peter C. Gentry, an international financial planner and a recovering alcoholic who lives on a farm on Slab Bridge Road, apparently faked his own death -- twice -- to get out of drunken driving charges. But the 38-year-old, who is very much alive, was brought to justice yesterday with an 18-month jail sentence.His brush with "death" began in November 1991 in Warrenton, Va., where he was stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

An 18-year-old Baltimore man pleaded guilty to carjacking and drug dealing in federal court Monday. According to his plea agreement, Gary Knight was a member of the Pasadena Denver Lanes, a set of the Bloods gang responsible for the distribution of crack cocaine, heroin and marijuana throughout the city. The Maryland U.S. attorney's office said members have also committed numerous acts of violence, including murder. Knight participated in gang activities from January 2008 through at least May of last year, according to his plea, personally distributing as many as 10 kilograms of heroin and 1.5 kilograms of crack cocaine.

From: Roger D. CassellElkridgeOn Jan. 24, 1992, in the Circuit Court for Howard County, the citizens of this state and county were subjected to a farce of the greatest magnitude.Francisco Rodriguez was allowed to plead guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of Cpl. Ted Wolf of the Maryland State Police, which took place in March of 1990. Rodriguez was given a life sentence for the crime, subject to the terms of the pleaagreement.Then, to the dismay of all, the judge had the terms ofthe plea agreement sealed.

A man who was jailed without bail for months because a Baltimore police officer said he tried to disarm her was set free Tuesday after Officer Traci L. McKissick changed her story during emotional courtroom testimony. Earlier this year, McKissick told prosecutors that Joseph A. Forrest was the man who stepped on her hand as she held a gun and wrestled with Forrest's 61-year-old uncle, who was killed by police during an altercation in February. But in court last week, McKissick referred to the person who tried to get her gun only as the "mystery man" and "the voice."

The county state's attorney's office has entered cyberspace, introducing a home page on the World Wide Web.Anyone with Internet access can download information on dealing with bad checks, domestic violence, victim rights and the victim witness assistance unit, said Marcie S. Wogan, deputy state's attorney."

Another prosecutor in the Howard County state's attorney's office has resigned, the fifth to leave the office since February under the administration of State's Attorney Marna McLendon.Gail D. Kessler, who practiced law in District Court for the past 19 months, will be joining the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission to work as an assistant bar counsel. Her resignation, submitted Friday, takes effect Aug. 2.Kessler, 33, was hired by McLendon when McLendon took office in January 1995. Kessler had worked in the Carroll County District Court Division for more than two years before coming to Howard.

The Maryland U.S. attorney's office is pursuing a new drug case against a Baltimore man, despite having recently sent him to prison for life. The move is raising questions about the government's motivation and the strength of the earlier convictions, which the defendant, David "Chicken" Ellerby, has appealed to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Some say it simply emphasizes how dangerous the agency believes Ellerby to be. The 36-year-old has beaten dozens of state charges, including murder and attempted murder, and law enforcement agents consider him one of the city's most dangerous residents.

Gary P. Jordan, a career prosecutor who left his mark at the state and federal levels, died Friday evening at his home in Bel Air. He was 45.Although he had been treated for cancer since 1993, he continued in his post as first assistant to the U.S. attorney for Maryland until Tuesday."

A Baltimore police officer who led a raid on a mayoral relative's home now faces new departmental charges because he refused to make a statement to investigators who are examining the incident.Officer Nicholas S. Constantine, 27, was informed yesterday that internal affairs officials are investigating him for insubordination and failure to obey a direct departmental order, said Agent Doug Price, a city police spokesman."The essence of it is that he failed to cooperate in an internal investigation and he didn't provide a statement," Agent Price said.

A suspended Baltimore police officer was charged yesterday with first-degree murder and child abuse in the beating death Sunday of his 19-month-old son, Howard County police said.Baltimore police officers arrested Officer Carl William Morris Jr. of the 6400 block of Barchink Place in Columbia at his attorney's office in Baltimore about 5:30 p.m. yesterday, said Dennis S. Hill, a Baltimore police spokesman.Officer Morris, 32, has been an officer in the Southwestern District for five years, Mr. Hill said.

The Maryland U.S. attorney's office is pursuing a new drug case against a Baltimore man, despite having recently sent him to prison for life. The move is raising questions about the government's motivation and the strength of the earlier convictions, which the defendant, David "Chicken" Ellerby, has appealed to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Some say it simply emphasizes how dangerous the agency believes Ellerby to be. The 36-year-old has beaten dozens of state charges, including murder and attempted murder, and law enforcement agents consider him one of the city's most dangerous residents.

No charges will be filed against the undercover officer who accidentally shot two Jessup teenagers police suspected of dealing drugs in April, the Howard County state's attorney's office said yesterday. State's Attorney Dario Broccolino wrote in a letter to Police Chief William J. McMahon that prosecutors have concluded the shooting was an accident. About 5 p.m. April 7, undercover narcotics officers stopped two teenagers, Dwain Usery, who was 14 at the time, and Garcia Wilson, who was 15, in the 8300 block of Pleasant Chase Road in Jessup, police said.

A Baltimore County man was charged yesterday with 110 counts of possessing slot machines after police raided dozens of establishments in May, according to the county state's attorney's office. Roy Carroll Bond III, president of Carbond Inc., has been charged more than a dozen times with gambling offenses in the area, but has never been convicted. Two weeks ago, county police declared that the video machines seized during the May raid were used for illegal gambling, and they referred the case to county prosecutors.

Longtime Senior Assistant State's Attorney Michael D. Rexroad arrived at Howard County Circuit Court last week for what he thought was a routine show-cause hearing. But he quickly found that the hearing was a ploy to lure him to Courtroom 1 for a surprise sendoff Thursday to mark his retirement after more than 28 years with the state's attorney's office. He told the assembled judges, prosecutors, public defenders and court staff that he pleaded guilty to retirement on condition that he will spend it relaxing and teaching at the University of Baltimore Law School, his alma mater.

Sentencing of an Ellicott City man convicted of killing his father during a domestic dispute in their home in 2005 has been postponed. The Howard County state attorney's office requested rescheduling of the sentencing to give it time to conduct a psychological review of Jason Chen, according to a document submitted in county Circuit Court. The hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed until May 31. Assistant State's Attorney David A. Lank said Chen's lawyer, Joseph Murtha, had a psychological evaluation conducted for the sentencing hearing.

Two weeks after his election victory, Maryland Attorney General-elect Douglas F. Gansler named two people to top positions in the office yesterday. Katherine Winfree, a former federal prosecutor who has been Gansler's chief deputy since 1999, will be the senior deputy attorney general. John B. Howard Jr., Gansler's roommate at the University of Virginia law school and a litigator at Venable LLP in Baltimore, will serve as a deputy. The law allows for two deputies, and a second has yet to be chosen.

Maryland's new U.S. attorney said at his swearing-in ceremony yesterday that he does not intend to seek the post permanently, keeping open the contest to become the state's next top federal prosecutor. Allen F. Loucks was ushered in yesterday morning to replace Thomas M. DiBiagio, who announced his resignation last month. Loucks, who has worked in the office for 10 years, said it was common to have a placeholder fill the job while awaiting a permanent U.S. attorney appointed by the president.

Longtime Senior Assistant State's Attorney Michael D. Rexroad arrived at Howard County Circuit Court last week for what he thought was a routine show-cause hearing. But he quickly found that the hearing was a ploy to lure him to Courtroom 1 for a surprise sendoff Thursday to mark his retirement after more than 28 years with the state's attorney's office. He told the assembled judges, prosecutors, public defenders and court staff that he pleaded guilty to retirement on condition that he will spend it relaxing and teaching at the University of Baltimore Law School, his alma mater.

Soldiers receive medals. Police officers win citations. But what about court-appointed defense attorneys, who quietly labor to represent those accused of the most heinous crimes? On Friday, two of them got some welcome time in the spotlight, receiving the annual John Adams Award for outstanding work defending the indigent in federal court in Maryland. Maryland Federal Public Defender James Wyda described attorneys Charles Bernstein and Michael Schatzow as heroes, but not because they arrested lawbreakers or prosecuted criminals.

Gangbangers, take note: Trying to firebomb witnesses into silence can get you locked up for the rest of your life. The hefty sentences against two Baltimore men convicted of tossing Molotov cocktails at the home of a community activist who complained about neighborhood drug dealers show the benefit of prosecuting some witness intimidation cases in federal court. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Nakie Harris, 30, to 84 years and Richard Royal, 21, to 60 years in prison, sending an unmistakable message about the seriousness of this crime.