Cocaine

Ten people have been charged with drug possession after a raid on a Brooklyn Park house Tuesday night, Anne Arundel County police said Wednesday. Officers from the Northern District's Tactical Narcotics Team and Tactical Patrol Unit found cocaine and heroin in the house in the 200 block of W. Arden Road when they raided it about 9 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Officers also found devices to smoke crack cocaine, syringes to inject heroin, drug-packing materials and tally sheets to track the sales of drugs.

With a welcome dose of common sense, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that federal sentencing guidelines are advisory, not mandatory, and that a judge is still free to exercise discretion, depending on the circumstances of the case. The court's reiteration of the principle that judges should use their judgment is particularly appropriate in drug cases, where mandatory minimum sentences are often unnecessarily harsh and disparate punishments involving crack and powder cocaine are especially glaring.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore and Baltimore County. Baltimore Northeastern Stabbing -- Two teenage girls were stabbed about 8:45 p.m. yesterday in the 1600 block of Abbotston St. by one of several other females who fled the scene. The victims, one stabbed in the face and the other in the face, chest and back, were treated at an area hospital. Northwestern Shooting -- Police were seeking a man who shot another man at an auto repair shop in the 4100 block of W. Belvedere Ave. about 9 p.m. yesterday and stole a car. The victim was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

A federal judge sentenced a 41-year-old Baltimore County man yesterday to serve 10 years in prison for his role in a large-scale drug operation that sold heroin and cocaine throughout the Baltimore region. Michael Felder, 41, of Cockeysville, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine over a 10-year period in a large narcotics-trafficking enterprise operated in Baltimore by brothers Howard and Raeshio Rice, who also pleaded guilty and received sentences of decades in prison.

A Baltimore man who is serving a federal prison sentence for a drug conviction pleaded guilty yesterday in Howard County Circuit Court to second-degree murder in the shooting death of a man at a Columbia apartment complex in 2002. In a plea agreement, Marc Colin Ward, 37, was sentenced to 135 months in prison, the same term he got last week in U.S. District Court in Baltimore for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana. The two sentences will be served concurrently.

A federal judge sentenced a 27-year-old Cecil County man yesterday to serve 14 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine in the Winding Brook community of Elkton. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Dequan Sibhe Copeland, who earlier pleaded guilty to the charge. According to court documents filed by prosecutors, Copeland and several others were videotaped between January 2004 and April 2006 as they sold illegal drugs. Agents also listened in on telephone calls during which Copeland arranged for the purchase, distribution or payment of up to 15 kilograms of cocaine and 1.5 kilograms or more of crack cocaine, prosecutors said.

Hotel is latest target of attempted fraud, For the fifth time in a week, a city business has reported that a man claiming to be a police officer requested patrons' credit card information. An employee of Loews Annapolis Hotel reported that the caller identified himself as "Annapolis Police Detective Robert Clark" on Tuesday and asked for all of the hotel guests' credit card numbers, saying he needed them for an unexplained investigation. The department has no such employee and does not make a practice of asking for credit card information.

WASHINGTON -- Under relentless media pressure, Texas Gov. George W. Bush said yesterday that he has been drug-free for the past 25 years, but he refused to provide any details of his self-described youthful "mistakes."In his most extensive comments on a subject he has insisted he won't discuss, the Republican presidential front-runner said he could have passed the background check that his father, George Bush, instituted when he became president in 1989. That standard disqualified prospective White House employees who had used illegal drugs during the previous 15 years.

Police seized cocaine valued at $10,000 last night at the Baltimore County apartment of a parolee who was arrested Wednesday in the city and charged with possession of narcotics.Sgt. William Sekinger of the Northeastern District drug enforcement unit said the man -- Ricky Holt, 40, of the 1100 block of Glemsford Road in Essex -- was arrested at Sinclair Lane and Washington Street after police observed drug activity and seized a shoe box containing 20 grams of cocaine.Sekinger said Holt's apartment was searched last night and officers seized 83 grams of crack cocaine.

Three people were being held Friday on cocaine distribution charges after police raided a Westminster motel room Thursday evening, court records show.Detectives carrying a search warrant entered a room at the Boston Inn, in the 500 block of Baltimore Blvd., at 7: 24 p.m. and made the arrests after finding suspected crack cocaine on a table, according to charging documents.Arrested were Wayne E. Reightler, 38, of the first block of John St. in Westminster; Ann E. Chase, 25, of the 1200 block of Woodland Circle in New Windsor; and Eric L. Bennett, 22, of the 800 block of Cator Ave. in Baltimore.

Vaccines to help people recover from such addictions as nicotine, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines appear scientifically and medically achievable after doctors reported Monday that a vaccine to treat cocaine dependence had produced a large enough antibody response to reduce cocaine use in 38 percent of addicted individuals. Those results come on the heels of last week's announcement that the federal government will fund a large clinical trial of a nicotine vaccine based on earlier promising studies.

After a two-year federal investigation involving wiretaps, confidential informants and undercover drug buys, a grand jury has indicted at least a half-dozen people, mostly Anne Arundel County residents in their 20s and 30s, on charges that they conspired to import cocaine from Panama for distribution. Six defendants were arrested this week and appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday to determine whether they would be jailed pending trial. Among those ordered detained were Melinda Lewis, who has a prior federal drug conviction; Howard Fannin Jr., who is alleged to have threatened violence against co-conspirators and a potential informant; and Randy Lee Davis, who along with defendant Mark Milligan Jr. was earlier convicted of reckless endangerment for shooting at undercover police officers in 2006.

Schools OK contract for reading material 2 The Baltimore County school board unanimously approved Tuesday night a $3.44 million contract to the Pennsylvania-based American Reading Co. for supplemental reading materials, as well as professional development for teachers in Title I schools. The program, which is to be funded using Title I federal stimulus money, is an extension of a pilot reading initiative, which school officials say has shown success in "substantially" raising students' reading levels.

Everybody knows that once a bank note has passed through a few hands, it's not the cleanest thing in the world. What you might not know is that, in addition to germs, grime and other visitors, the bills in your wallet probably contain cocaine. Although such traces have been reported in the past, a scientists' group said Monday that cocaine is present in up to 90 percent of the paper money in the United States, particularly in large cities such as Baltimore, Boston and Detroit. The 90 percent figure represents a significant jump from a similar study conducted two years ago. In the earlier survey, 67 percent of U.S. paper money was found to contain traces of cocaine.

After failing to persuade a federal judge to suppress 90 pounds of drug evidence - the Baltimore Police Department's biggest cocaine bust - defendant Trenell D. Murphy has abandoned plans for a jury trial, his attorney confirmed Monday. He is expected to plead guilty to a drug-dealing charge during a rearraignment this afternoon. The shift comes in part because Murphy, 34, could get a lighter sentence for "acceptance of responsibility," said attorney M. Gordon Tayback. But as part of the plea agreement, they retained the right to appeal the court's recent decision to keep the cocaine in evidence.

Here's some new news about drugs in Baltimore: * A kilo of cocaine now costs $32,000, up a full $10,000 from 2006. Bulk quantities of the drug are more expensive here than in Washington, where a kilo costs $30,000, and in Richmond, Va., where it goes for $26,000. * Local drug dealers outsource even the final stages of turning powder cocaine into crack. * Dealers are increasingly steering away from highways to smuggle drugs, preferring package delivery services so they can track their shipments on the Internet.

Men's college basketball Alleged violations could cost Memphis its 2007-08 wins Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson defended the men's basketball program Thursday, saying the school checks out all potential players. He would not confirm that Derrick Rose, who led Memphis to the 2008 national title game, is at the center of an NCAA investigation of major violations during that season. In a letter to the school the NCAA says an unknown person took the SAT for a player, with his knowledge, and then the player used that test to get into Memphis.

Arbutus woman found guilty in fatal stabbing in November A Baltimore County jury has found a 25-year-old Arbutus woman guilty of first-degree murder. Sharon Elizabeth Grimes was taken into custody after the verdict was announced late Tuesday. Circuit Judge Robert E. Cahill Jr. ordered a pre-sentence investigation, which will take about 45 days. Grimes was charged along with Robert J. Matthews, 23, in the fatal stabbing in November of Robert A. Silver, 48. - Mary Gail Hare Hit-and-run driver sought in death of pedestrian Police continue to seek the driver of a vehicle that struck a Morrell Park woman early Monday as she walked across a bridge near the Carroll Camden Industrial Area.

Man fatally shot in Cherry Hill fight A man died shortly after he was shot in the neck Saturday afternoon during a fight in the Cherry Hill neighborhood of South Baltimore, according to Baltimore police. Detectives are investigating why a group of men began fighting in the 2800 block of Winwood Court about 2:30 p.m., said Agent Donny Moses, a Baltimore police spokesman. The man's identity was not released. Liz F. Kay Pizza deliveryman shot in $15 holdup A Baltimore pizza deliveryman was shot during a robbery on a delivery run Friday night, police said.

Ten people have been charged with drug possession after a raid on a Brooklyn Park house Tuesday night, Anne Arundel County police said Wednesday. Officers from the Northern District's Tactical Narcotics Team and Tactical Patrol Unit found cocaine and heroin in the house in the 200 block of W. Arden Road when they raided it about 9 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Officers also found devices to smoke crack cocaine, syringes to inject heroin, drug-packing materials and tally sheets to track the sales of drugs.