Crack Cocaine

In separate federal trials this week, juries convicted three men on drug distribution charges, including two defendants who were targeted by prosecutors and city police because of their extensive criminal records. On Tuesday, Earl Gordon, 27, was convicted of possessing crack cocaine with the intention of selling the drug. A separate jury convicted Victor White, 49, on Wednesday of possession of heroin and cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Carlos Woods, 23, was convicted yesterday of drug possession with intent to distribute.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore and Baltimore County. Baltimore Western Victim named -- Police yesterday released the name of the man who died two days after being severely beaten May 23 in the 1900 block of Presstman St. as Voltaire Conway, 40, of the 1500 block of Presser Court. Police said Conway's death was ruled a homicide June 21. No arrest has been made. Eastern Shootings -- Police were seeking a man who shot two men, one 24 and the other 18, about 8 p.m. Tuesday while the victims stood at a playground in the 1100 block of Orleans St. The victims, one shot in the abdomen and the other in a leg, were both treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

WASHINGTON -- A day after the Supreme Court restored substantial power to federal judges to hand down sentences below recommended guidelines, the U.S. Sentencing Commission gave them additional authority to reduce prison terms for those already locked up for crack cocaine- related crimes. The commission's unanimous vote yesterday was viewed by many legal experts as a belated turning point in the often fractious, two-decade-old debate over how best to deal with defendants who violate federal drug laws.

Buoyed for the third year by funds from the state's anti-crime HotSpot program, Columbia's Village of Long Reach has seen tangible results: The once run-down village center is no longer defined by loiterers and poor lighting, and the police satellite station has a full-time staff of four.But just across Tamar Drive, within walking distance of Long Reach High School and the Interfaith Center, is a street residents say continues to be troubled with crime.Howard County police recently began working undercover on Yellowrose Court -- a "hot spot" within the HotSpot -- to stem drug activity and address residents' complaints about everything from breaking and entering to destruction of property.

Two Westminster men, who were arrested late Monday after allegedly trying to obtain the title for a stolen car, were taken to the state police barracks in Westminster, where troopers reported finding 2.5 ounces of suspected crack cocaine in one man's jacket pocket, court records show.Vincent M. Barber, 20, and Marvin Powell, 34, live at different addresses in the first block of E. Main St. Both men were charged with possession of crack cocaine, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, theft over $300, theft under $300 and related conspiracy counts.

For accused drug kingpin Darrell C. Long of Baltimore, 1999 has not been a good year.If Carroll County police and prosecutors have their way, his next century won't be so good either.Long, who will be 20 years old tomorrow and lives in the first block of Sturgis Court in Milford Mill, has been held in the Carroll County Detention Center since Aug. 5. He was arrested during a raid at the Village Square Apartments on Sullivan Avenue in connection with an undercover drug investigation on Westminster's west side.

A bail hearing was set for today for a man who is accused of shooting two people during a robbery at a suspected crack house Saturday in Westminster, state police said.A 17-year-old male was pistol-whipped by the robber, and a man suffered cuts when he jumped from a window to escape, said Maj. Greg Shipley, state police spokesman.According to Shipley, about 7: 30 p.m. Saturday, a man armed with a handgun stormed into a house in the 3900 block of Salem Bottom Road, ordered the occupants to lie on the floor and robbed them.

Anne Arundel County police have charged three men with narcotics violations and seized $46,000 worth of cocaine and marijuana in a seven-month investigation into an alleged drug ring believed to move drugs into the county and Baltimore from New York City.Michael Johnson, 38, of the 1300 block of Greyswood Road in Odenton, was arrested Wednesday night when police searched his home and found money, about 4 ounces of crack cocaine and a stolen handgun, police said. He was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

Annapolis Housing Authority employees will spend two hours immersed in the drug culture this morning, learning how a crack cocaine pipe can be crafted from a soda can and what a "Loveboat" is (marijuana sprinkled with PCP).Far from being illegal, the drug and paraphernalia class has been ordered by their boss, Patricia Croslan. And their instructor -- Annapolis City Police Lt. Robert E. Beans -- is on the right side of the law."It's of great importance for people to be able to identify drug paraphernalia, particularly when they work in an environment where they might come across it," said Croslan, the Housing Authority director.

THE CONTRAST is astonishing. Last year, Boston (population 558,000) recorded 35 homicides; Baltimore (population 675,000) had 314. Even New York, with 10 times more people, had just 629 homicides.These numbers tell a powerful story. Starting nine years ago with record homicide rates of 152 and 2,245, respectively, Boston and New York began reversing the tide.Surely Baltimore, too, should be able to curb the lethal bloodshed on its streets.Yet the prospect is not promising. The year has started with another wave of killings.

Reward offered for killers of liquor store owner The two men responsible for the killing of a liquor store owner last month remain unidentified and at large, Baltimore County police officials said Thursday. Police announced a $4,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of Joon Am Kang's killers. Half the money would come from Metro Crime Stoppers and half from the Korean-American Grocers and Licensed Beverage Association of Maryland. Kang, 57, was shot in the chest July 16 during an attempted robbery at Putty Hill Liquor on Belair Road in Fullerton.

Drug charges against city educator dropped The head of a city high school's special-education department has been cleared of drug charges after prosecutors could not locate a lab analysis of what police said was crack cocaine recovered from her home. Victoria Carter, a 35-year educator assigned to Northwestern High School, was arrested at school administration headquarters in April after police alleged that she conspired with her 19-year-old son to distribute 50 grams of suspected crack cocaine found in a first-floor bathroom.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department's Northern District targeted the Brooklyn Park, Pumphrey and Morris Hill areas for a weeklong "Operation No Let Up" in response to complaints of criminal activity and quality-of-life issues, the department said. From April 13 to April 17, detectives and officers from the Northern District's Tactical Patrol Unit, Tactical Narcotics Team, Police and Community Together, Special Enforcement Team and Eastern District focused on the area. The program resulted in arrests that included drug and alcohol violations, serving arrest warrants, juvenile citations, traffic violations and a prostitution arrest, as well as the arrest of two juveniles operating a stolen vehicle.

The head of a city high school's special-education department was arrested Wednesday at school administration headquarters on East North Avenue on a warrant charging her with felony conspiracy to violate narcotics laws, authorities said. City police Detective David Jones said that Victoria Carter, 58, of the 3900 block of Glenhunt Road in Rognel Heights was being held on $40,000 bail at Central Booking and Intake Center. Carter heads the Department of Special Education at Northwestern High School in the 3600 block of Fallstaff Road.

Man shot in Annapolis is first homicide of 2009 A 39-year-old man who was found shot in a car in an Annapolis public housing complex Tuesday night has died of his wounds, becoming the city's first homicide victim this year. Steven Lamorse Garrett of the 1900 block of Copeland St. was found suffering from a gunshot wound in a car in the Annapolis Gardens community about 9 p.m., Annapolis police said. The car in which Garrett was found had struck another car in the 1800 block of Bowman Drive, prompting a call to police, said police spokeswoman Jane Schlegel.

Police charge 3, seize drugs in Annapolis Police seized 25 grams of apparent crack cocaine from the Clay Street home of a suspected drug dealer Tuesday, Annapolis police said. On Monday morning, officers witnessed what appeared to be a drug deal between a pedestrian and a man in a car near the intersection of Clay and Pleasant Streets. Police found a small amount of crack cocaine in the center console of the car and charged the driver, John E. Edwards, 53, of Reidsville, N.C., with drug possession and seized his Honda Civic, police said.

Man stabbed after stopping to help A 46-year-old man who stopped to help three people on the side of the road in Severn early yesterday was repeatedly stabbed by one of them, Anne Arundel county police said. The man was driving south on Telegraph Road near Route 100 when he saw a man and two women on the side of the road. According to police, the two men got into a dispute and the driver was stabbed in the head, chest and stomach with a knife. The victim drove himself to a nearby fire station where he was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Man charged in two early morning robberies A 21-year-old man was charged with two robberies after police say he stole a man's wallet and then wriggled through a McDonald's drive through window and held up the employees at gun-point early Thursday morning, Annapolis police said. About 3:20 a.m., a man flashed a handgun, demanded a wallet from another man walking on Ellington Drive near Janwell Street and then fled on a bicycle, police said. About 50 minutes later, a man matching the same description as the suspect crawled through the drive-through window of the McDonald's restaurant in the 1900 block of West St., showed a handgun and ordered the employees to lie on the floor.

Glen Burnie residents robbed of wallets, car Three visitors robbed the residents of a Glen Burnie home of their wallets and money and a Lexus on Wednesday, Anne Arundel County police said. Residents of a home in the 200 block of 3rd Ave. SW invited three people who were known to them into the house about 11:30 a.m. The visitors produced an assault-type rifle and demanded wallets and money from five residents, police said. The suspects drove off with a black 2005 Lexus IS 300 that belonged to one of the residents.

Nearly a million African-Americans are incarcerated in prisons and jails, and a black male born today has a one-in-three chance of going to prison in his lifetime, if current trends continue. People of good will disagree about the causes of these dramatic figures. Competing explanations include high rates of involvement in crime, differential rates of prosecution through the "war on drugs," racial profiling and inadequate family support. In fact, there is a good deal of documentation to support each of these contentions as at least a part of the explanation for the disparity.