Drug Charges

Carl O. Snowden, the civil rights chief for the Maryland attorney general's office who was arrested on a drug charge last week, was in a car with a convicted felon in Druid Hill Park when city police officers smelled marijuana, according to court documents released Monday. Two officers said in a charging document that they pulled up in an unmarked car Thursday afternoon, approached a 2010 Honda Pilot with all four windows rolled down, and smelled "a strong odor" of marijuana coming from inside.

An Edgewood man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to dragging a Harford County Sheriff's Deputy with a vehicle following a traffic stop last December. William Scott Fetzer, 33, of Spring Meadow Court in Edgewood, also pleaded guilty to multiple drug offenses and vehicle theft during an appearance in Harford County Circuit Court Thursday before Judge Emory A. Plitt Sr., Harford County State's Attorney's Joseph Cassilly said. According to a news release announcing the sentence, Fetzer was a passenger in a car that was to be searched by a K-9, when he commandeered the car and fought with Deputy Tyler Vass for control of the vehicle.

Seven men arrested on drug chargesCounty police have charged four Glen Burnie men and a Baltimore man with possession of PCP with intent to distribute in two separate incidents. They also charged two others with possession of the drug in one of those incidents.In one case, four men were arrested Tuesday night at a Shell station in the 7900 block of Ritchie Highway by a police officer who investigated what he said was "suspicious activity" near a 1981 Buick on the lot.The officer smelled a strong odor of PCP coming from inside the vehicle.

Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein will hold a news conference Friday morning to announce the results of a six-month investigation into an alleged murder and drug conspiracy, which sources say was touched off by the home invasion killing of a former high school wrestling standout. The case stems from the death of Darian Kess, 27, who was stabbed in the neck in late April 2011 during a home invasion in the 1200 block of Linworth and died a few days later. Police said at the time that the primary suspect in Kess' killing, Alex Venable, was killed in a triple shooting 12 hours later in the 1900 block of N. Collington Ave. In addition to the triple shooting, the fallout from Kess' killing led to more retaliatory violence, according to sources familiar with the investigation, and authorities recovered a significant amount of drugs in raids connected to the case.

Three people have been arrested in a May 2011 quadruple shooting in East Baltimore that killed a 12-year-old who was sitting on a porch, watching a basketball game on television. Police said Danyae Robinson, 29; Antwan Mosley, 21; and Derrick E. Brown, 17, have each been charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder after being arrested by the warrant apprehension task force. Charging documents shed little insight into the motive for the shooting or how police solved the case, saying only that phone records were used to corroborate statements from multiple witnesses.

A man and a teenager were arrested Sunday afternoon and charged with multiple drug violations after police stopped a 1994 Lexus that the man was driving with a fraudulent temporary tag in the 1600 block of E. Monument St. When the driver fled the vehicle, he was chased by Sgt. Dennis W. Workley and arrested near the scene. The teen, who attempted to flee with raw heroin valued at $2,000, was arrested by an off-duty city police officer working security at nearby Johns Hopkins Hospital, Workley said.

Felicia "Snoop" Pearson has spent much of the past two decades drawn to the gritty glamour of life on the streets, and nearly as much time and energy struggling to break free. Critics will see the arrest of the 30-year-old Baltimore actress on Thursday on drug charges as evidence that she's a career criminal — an image that only was heightened by her portrayal of a cold-blooded assassin on HBO's "The Wire. " But Pearson's friends, and there are many, are profoundly saddened by her latest run-in with police.

A Maryland state trooper on Wednesday evening made quick use of what he learned at a three-day training class on spotting illegal activity, as he stopped to help a couple of stranded motorists on Interstate 95 near Elkton and ended up arresting the two Florida men after finding a load of marijuana. The trooper, whose name was not available, was coming back from the class when he stopped at about 7:30 p.m. to help two men who were changing a flat tire on a pickup truck on the exit ramp from northbound I-95 to Route 279 near Elkton.

A 20-year-old Upper Marlboro man was arrested on drug charges Saturday after police said they recovered bags of marijuana that he tossed while trying to flee from a police officer, according to Anne Arundel County police. An officer responding to a report of a fight near Yellow Flower Road in Laurel said that he saw several males walking behind a business and that one of them began to run upon seeing him, police said. The suspect was seen throwing something to the ground, which police said turned out to be 12 small bags of marijuana inside a larger bag. Jeremiah James Brown, of the 5100 block of Woodford Lane, was charged with marijuana possession, possession with intent to distribute and resisting arrest, police said.

Baltimore prosecutors dropped gun and drug charges Wednesday against teenage twins, hours after a judge acquitted their father of similar charges stemming from the same search and seizure. Brothers Tremayne and Travers Johnson, who turned 18 last month, still face animal cruelty and mutilation charges in a separate case accusing them of setting fire to a pit bull puppy, which rescue workers later named Phoenix. The dog's injuries drew nationwide attention and outrage, with people calling for tougher penalties in animal cruelty cases and donating more than $25,000 to a reward fund to help catch the perpetrators.

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.

Carl O. Snowden, the civil rights chief for the Maryland attorney general's office who was arrested on a drug charge last week, was in a car with a convicted felon in Druid Hill Park when city police officers smelled marijuana, according to court documents released Monday. Two officers said in a charging document that they pulled up in an unmarked car Thursday afternoon, approached a 2010 Honda Pilot with all four windows rolled down, and smelled "a strong odor" of marijuana coming from inside.

Three people have been arrested in a May 2011 quadruple shooting in East Baltimore that killed a 12-year-old who was sitting on a porch, watching a basketball game on television. Police said Danyae Robinson, 29; Antwan Mosley, 21; and Derrick E. Brown, 17, have each been charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder after being arrested by the warrant apprehension task force. Charging documents shed little insight into the motive for the shooting or how police solved the case, saying only that phone records were used to corroborate statements from multiple witnesses.

A fatal shooting is rare along the tree-lined streets that lead to historic Federal Hill park, where residents and tourists take in sweeping views of the Inner Harbor. So it was especially unusual when two people were killed there on consecutive days in the summer of 2008. There hasn't been another such incident since then. Four years later, police say they've solved one of the murders, arresting 32-year-old Dundalk resident Jason Hamel for the June 20, 2008 killing of 35-year-old Keyva Bluitt.  Bluitt was sitting in a vehicle at about 9:15 p.m. when witnesses said they saw several people jump into a blue Toyota and then heard a shot fired.

A 20-year-old man who was shot and critically wounded Tuesday night in the East Baltimore Midway neighborhood died from his injuries, police said as they identified another man who was fatally shot this week.  Police say Ronnell Chaney was standing in the 500 block of E. 21st St. at about 11 p.m. Tuesday when a group of unknown suspects began shooting at him. He was struck multiple times and transported to an area hospital, where he later died....

When Asa Bell fled the country in 2008 while free on $250,000 bail on gun and drug charges in Baltimore, the bail bond company appeared to be stuck with the tab from the state. Four years later, interest has increased the amount to $360,000 and counting. But Texas-based Financial Casualty Surety Co. and its local agent, 4 Aces Bail Bonds Inc., continue to fight the judgment with no apparent end in sight, as the companies exhaust their legal options. They have twice taken the case to the Court of Special Appeals, which has sent it back down on each occasion with the instruction that they pay up. A hearing Thursday in Baltimore Circuit Court ended with the same finding, but attorneys again vowed to appeal.

Drug charges against Ravens kick returner David Reed have been moved to the inactive docket by Baltimore County prosecutors, effectively dropping the case. Reed was charged Dec. 8 with possession of marijuana. Lt. Robert McCullough told The Sun at the time that Baltimore County police were called to Reed's Owings Mills apartment to investigate "possible narcotics. " Though the case was set for a court date next week, prosecutors on Friday placed the case on the "stet" docket, meaning the case will not be pursued and will eventually be dropped after a year.

Seven people have been arrested on drug charges at a Dundalk night club after more than 100 Baltimore County police officers raided the place last week, police said. Culminating a nearly 15-month investigation, the police carried out a search warrant at the Black Hole Rock Club on German Hill Road at about 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 11, arresting the club manager and six others. The officers, accompanied by a representative of the Baltimore County State's Attorney's office, also seized an array of illegal drugs: marijuana, methamphetamine, ecstasy, ketamine and psilocybin mushrooms.

The state's second-highest court has overturned a murder conviction for a man who police say participated in a drug deal that ended in gunfire, which killed a Baltimore County grandmother hit by a stray bullet. Donald S. Kohler did not shoot Shirley Worcester, 58, outside her Middle River home in January 2009. Police said Kohler had cheated a dealer out of four pounds of marijuana by handing over fake money and was running away when the dealer shooting at him hit the victim instead.

Six days before Christmas, four men tracked down 19-year-old Rodney Vest Pridget as he shopped at the Towson Town Center mall. One of them shot and killed him outside on a sidewalk, Baltimore County police say. Four men, ranging in age from 19 to 44, were arrested this week and charged with first-degree murder. Police say they have not determined a motive for the Dec. 19 killing, though they said Pridget was clearly targeted. "We do not know why Pridget was targeted, only that he was targeted," police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said.