Crack Cocaine

Murder suspect Terrence Tolbert has been charged with dealing crack cocaine from the Annapolis street on which he lived while he was released during a pretrial appeal by prosecutors in the murder case. Tolbert, 21, was seen by police and videotaped selling crack cocaine Jan. 15, according to allegations in the charging documents. Police did not seek an arrest warrant until Feb. 18, a day after Tolbert was jailed on an unrelated drug charge, because his bond had been revoked in that case.

Many predicted the 1980s crack epidemic would create a generation of children with major developmental and behavioral problems, but a new study found much of that hype hasn't panned out. Researchers from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine found that the effects of crack cocaine in utero had only small effects on adolescent behavior, cognition and school performance. Crack is a more addictive, crystalized form of cocaine that is smoked for a intense high.

A member of a Baltimore drug gang was sentenced to 20 years Friday for dealing crack cocaine. Shawn "City" Coleman, 27, bought the drugs in New York City and refined them in a Baltimore hotel, according to the Maryland U.S. attorney's office. He and conspirators sold the crack in Baltimore city and county. Officers found crack cocaine and 60 bags of heroin in August 2007 after stopping a vehicle in which Coleman was a passenger. - Tricia Bishop

Harford County sheriff's deputies arrested a Baltimore man on drug charges early Thursday morning after the suspect fled while deputies were attempting to stop him for speeding. According to the Sheriff's Office, Reginald S. Artis, 34, of the 2500 block of Hollins Street in the Southwest Baltimore, was charged with possession of a drug other than marijuana, narcotics possession with intent to distribute and hindering a police officer, according to court records. Around 12:48 am Thursday, a sheriff's deputy saw a 2000 silver Mercury exceeding the posted speed limit on Hanson Road in Edgewood, according to a Sheriff's Office news release.

A federal judge on Monday sentenced a 31-year-old College Park man to 150 months — more than 12 years — in prison for possessing crack cocaine and intending to distribute it. Josue Monroy, who pleaded guilty to the charges, must also serve five years of supervised probation upon his release, under the terms of the sentence pronounced by U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt. The judge noted that Monroy is a "career offender" with two prior drug convictions.

An Annapolis drug squad seized at least $7,000 worth of suspected crack cocaine from the top of a bedroom dresser in a predawn raid yesterday at the Admiral Farragut Apartments in Eastport, city police said.Police barged into the apartment at 200A Boxwood Road at 5:30 a.m. and seized 7 grams of suspected crack cocaine in large "rocks" wrapped in plastic bags; suspected marijuana worth $100; and $4,128, police said. Officers also removed an unloaded handgun, ammunition and a cellular telephone.

A Glen Burnie man was stopped for not wearing his seat belt while leaving Freetown Village Friday, then was arrested on drug charges after police searched his car.Joseph E. Neuman, 32, of the 7700 block of West Drive was charged with possession of crack cocaine. Police also seized his car, a 1995 Nissan.Police stopped the car just after 9 p.m. The driver gave police permission to search his car, and an officer found a small rock of crack cocaine worth about $20, police said.Pub Date: 2/03/98

Five people were arrested in Brooklyn Park this week on charges of possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, Anne Arundel County police said. Arrested Tuesday, police said, were Ashley King, 18, and Dustin Rhodes, 23, both of Sixth Street in Baltimore. Crack cocaine worth $1,300 was found in the car they were riding in, police said. Police said narcotics officers had been conducting surveillance of the suspects as they traveled between Baltimore and Anne Arundel County. Separately, three men were arrested yesterday morning after county police pulled them over for a traffic violation.

A man accused of distributing crack cocaine in Westminster is being held on $50,000 bond at the Carroll County Detention Center after he was arrested at his O'Donnell Heights home in Southeast Baltimore by Westminster police Tuesday night.Westminster police said they obtained an arrest warrant for Robert Lamont Bryant, 19, of the 1200 block of Gregor Way after linking him to a Westminster woman with whom he recently lived.On March 20, Westminster officers raided the woman's residence on West Green Street in Westminster and reported finding a safe containing crack and powder cocaine, two handguns, a sawed-off shotgun and paraphernalia used to weigh and package narcotics.

Victor Levi Colbert allegedly stabbed Rodney Smith to death in Smith's Bel Air apartment, an assistant state's attorney said during Smith's bail review hearing Wednesday in Harford County District Court. Colbert, whose turned 31 on Dec. 3, was arrested Tuesday morning at his home in Dundalk and charged in the death of Mr. Smith, 52, whose body was found Sunday in his home at 204 A Baltimore Pike in Bel Air. Colbert is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree assault.

An Eastern Shore man who got out of federal prison in December when his crack cocaine sentence was reduced was sent back to prison this week after being sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for distributing drugs. Prosecutors with the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office said Clevon "Ty" Johnson, 38, went back to his old career less than a year after walking out of prison. "Mr. Johnson did not learn the first time he went to prison for a drug conviction and crime does not pay," said Ava Cooper-Davis, the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Washington field office.

Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein is warning that a recent revision to the federal sentencing guidelines for crack and powder cocaine possession will lead to the release of hundreds of dangerous criminals onto the streets. But before crying wolf about a new crime wave, he ought to consider federal prosecutors' role in creating what he describes as an impending disaster. The fact is, most of the people currently in prison for drug violations aren't there because they committed violent crimes.

Anne Arundel County Police arrested a Laurel man after they responded to a complaint of suspected sales of illegal narcotics from a room at the Knights Inn on Fort Meade Road Friday. Police officers arriving at the hotel around 10:46 a.m. Sept. 9 saw two people flee from room and stopped a third person as he attempted to flee. The hotel management indicated the room was rented to only one individual and that the person stopped was not supposed to be there. Police searched the room and found a plastic bag containing suspected crack cocaine and suspected marijuana.

Anne Arundel County Police officers on routine patrol in Russett arrested two men and charged them on various counts related to possession of controlled dangerous substances, or CDS, Aug. 8. Officers from the Western District's Police and Community Together, or PACT, unit observed a suspicious occupied vehicle near the intersection of Marcey Creek Road and Accokeek Street. A passenger had a plastic baggy in his lap, which police said was later determined to be filled with suspected crack cocaine.

A man with addresses in the Aberdeen area and The Bronx, N.Y. was sentenced Tuesday in Baltimore to 15 years in prison on federal drug charges. U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg sentenced Jarian Ricks, a/k/a "Bigga Bills," a/k/a "Biggs," 32, of Aberdeen, to 15 years in prison followed by nine years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of...

At Shaffer's Lounge and Sports Bar, a small bar on the fringes of Pigtown with one pool table and a sign above the cash register that reads "Sarcasm: One of the free services I offer," the lone employee heard the gunshots and hit the deck. Outside, a man lay bleeding. The employee's pickup truck parked outside the door was riddled with bullets. Later, one of the detectives asking her questions broke away to take a phone call — "I'm at the OK Corral," he told the person on the other end, she said.

Anne Arundel County Police on routine foot patrol Monday observed a Laurel man rolling a suspected marijuana cigarette and eventually arrested him with charges related to possession of controlled dangerous substances, or CDS. Officers of the Western District on foot patrol in the 3400 block of Laurel Fort Meade Road around 9 p.m. said they observed Darnell Mark Riddles, 25, rolling a suspected marijuana cigarette. Riddles was arrested, and after a search, police located nine baggies of suspected crack cocaine individually wrapped for sale with an estimated street value of $180, and a switchblade knife.