Conspiracy

The release of Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate yesterday probably won't quiet all the so-called carnival barkers out there, but it ought to make a dent. As the president observed, the political sideshow over his place of birth and citizenship had become too great a distraction of late not to at least make the effort. Make no mistake, President Obama didn't prove this morning that he was born in Hawaii. That was already accomplished several years ago when he released his short-form birth certificate, the one that is standard issue in the 50 t h state and that Republican and Democratic governors had already confirmed matched the information on the longer document.

Two 44-year-old city men were sentenced to federal prison Friday for taking part in a heroin conspiracy that spread into Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties, the Maryland U.S. attorney's office announced. William Larry Diggs Jr. was sentenced 14 years, and his co-defendant Darrin William Scott, received a five-year term. The men were part of a vast drug ring run by Christian Gettis, who previously described himself in court as a family man living a double life: secretly dealing drugs while holding down a job in retail.

I f you wake up in the morning with the blues because people treat you mean, you could sing a song about it, or you could shop around for an enormous conspiracy that has denied you your constitutional right to liberty and happiness - and how about Central Standard Time? What gives the feds the right to set your clock for you? It's tyranny. So you join the Free Time movement. You go to meetings. You tune in "The Bob Glenn Show" every day on Fox for your marching orders and set your clock as you darn well please and feel liberated from lockstep uniformity.

Two unidentified operators of a prescription drug clinic in Lutherville that was raided by Baltimore County narcotics officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents Tuesday have been arrested, according to county police. One was arrested at the Healthy Life Medical Group clinic in the 1100 block of York Road, the other at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, police said. Both have been charged with conspiracy to distribute Schedule II narcotics, which include amphetamines, methamphetamines and other drugs that can be used in a medical setting but have "a high potential for abuse which may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence," according to the DEA website.

WASHINGTON - Defense company BAE Systems PLC pleaded guilty to conspiracy on Monday and a judge imposed a $400 million fine, among the largest in the Justice Department's efforts to combat overseas corruption in international business. The defense contractor knowingly failed to ensure compliance with legal prohibitions on foreign bribery. The company's conduct impeded U.S. efforts to be certain international trade is free of corruption, said acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler.

WASHINGTON -- Federal investigators are reluctant to say a conspiracy is involved in the recent wave of arson attacks on black churches, but there is. There is a conspiracy of silence.There is also a conspiracy of denial, a conspiracy of timidity and ++ a conspiracy of permissiveness toward racism. To find the culprits, start by looking in a mirror.More than 30 black churches have been destroyed since January, 1995, before major media or national politicians gave the problem the national attention it deserves.

Twenty-two people, including one of the boys featured in an acclaimed documentary about city children attending school in Africa, were indicted this week by a federal grand jury on charges related to a drug distribution conspiracy in the Gilmor Homes public housing complex in West Baltimore. Among those indicted was Romesh Mustafa Vance, 20, who along with his brother was one of four high-risk students whose journey to attend the Baraka School in Kenya on scholarship was captured in the acclaimed documentary "The Boys of Baraka."

Was there a conspiracy to murder President John F. Kennedy? The new Oliver Stone movie -- "JFK" -- argues that there was, involving the Secret Service, the CIA, the FBI, the military-industrial complex and just about every other element of the 1960s establishment. Why did they want to kill President Kennedy? Because he had decided to turn soft on communism in his second term, pull out of Vietnam, ease up on Fidel Castro, make friends with Nikita Khrushchev -- in other words, throw the Cold War.The cold, hard fact is, there is no credible evidence of such a conspiracy.

The Justice Department has put its indictment where its leaks and hints have been by indicting 15 defendants, including Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, for a conspiracy "to levy a war of urban terrorism against the United States."That's what it always sounded like, but not where the Justice Department was heading -- until now -- with investigations into the World Trade Center bombing in February and a plot to make further explosions in New York in June. In that sense, most Americans are probably reassured by this grand jury action.

A federal grand jury indicted a Catonsville man and two others yesterday, charging them with conspiracy and intent to distribute more than 2 million doses of weight-loss drugs. According to the indictment, Susana Mendez, 49, and Jose Riopedre, 50, both of Miami, operated Web sites that allowed customers to order drugs after filling out a questionnaire, which purportedly would be reviewed by physicians. The online prescriptions would be filled at brick-and-mortar pharmacies and shipped to customers, the indictment says.

Political consultant Julius Henson may have written the automated message that encouraged Democrats to stay home from the polls on Election Day 2010, but he didn't force voters to believe it, jury foreman Renee Johnson said Friday, explaining the split verdict in his case. "We, as a people, because we live in a democratic society, we have the choice of believing or not to believe. You choose to believe it, it's on you," said Johnson of East Baltimore, adding that tactics intended to influence voters are nothing new for political operatives such as Henson.

Baltimore prosecutors have dropped half of the charges filed against four young people accused in a St. Patrick's Day attack on a tourist, whose brutal beating and robbery was videotaped and widely viewed online. Aaron Jacob Parsons, 20; Shayona Mikia Davis, 20; Shatia Baldwin, 21; and Deangelo Carter, 19, were each charged in with first-degree assault in the incident, in which an Alexandria, Va. man was battered, stripped of his clothes and left unconscious in front of the Baltimore circuit courthouse on North Calvert Street.

A Bulgarian citizen, who was involved in an international conspiracy to skim debit and credit card information from bank and other ATMs, including at least one in Bel Air early last year, was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison by a judge in Baltimore Federal District Court Friday. In addition to receiving a prison term, Hristo Georgive Kostov, 29, who had been living in Howard County, was also sentenced to two years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake.

Robert Gene Harris was sentenced Friday to 10 and a half years in prison for his role in robberies in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Harris, 29, of Chambersburg, Pa., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg of the Maryland district court for conspiracy to commit armed robberies and the use of a firearm during a violent crime. The judge also ordered Harris to pay $14,925. Harris' prison term will be followed by three years of supervised release, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

The last of 17 Baltimore police officers charged in a kickback scheme pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy and extortion in federal court, bringing the prosecution phase of the case to a close. Over a five-month period, Jaime Luis Lugo Rivera, 36, steered car crash victims to Majestic Auto Repair in Rosedale in exchange for cash payments worth at least $6,000, falsified police reports, persuaded at least one vehicle owner to submit a false insurance claim and supported efforts by the body shop owners to increase damage for bigger insurance payouts, according to his plea agreement.

Felicia "Snoop" Pearson , 31. Grew up dealing drugs in East Baltimore and at age 14 killed a youth in a fight. On HBO series "The Wire," played an enforcer for drug organization. Arrested last year as part of a drug sweep and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell heroin. Put on probation with a suspended sentence. Shawn Johnson. New York drug supplier described by Pearson as an old friend. Pleaded guilty to being the drug network's main supplier, trafficking in 10-kilogram heroin shipments.

A federal court judge on Thursday sentenced 21-year-old Romesh Vance, who was featured in a 2005 documentary about Baltimore boys sent to boarding school in Kenya, to 70 months in prison for participating in a drug conspiracy at the Gilmor Homes public housing complex. "I'm hoping that Mr. Vance will be one of the real success stories," U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg said in handing down the sentence. Legg noted Vance's youth, "tremendous" family support and the many opportunities he's had in his short life that have shown him better ways of doing things.

A federal indictment unsealed Friday accuses four people — including a mother and her son — of directing a drug-dealing operation in Baltimore's strip-club district through violence and intimidation, including the 2010 killing of a dancer they suspected of giving information to police. Police had arrested one of the defendants named in this week's indictment, Tyrone Johniken, last January in the killing of 25-year-old Cherrie Gammon, who was fatally shot in Leakin Park on Dec. 12, 2010.