Grand Jury

A 21-year-old man who police say sneaked into Holabird Middle School last month and assaulted a boy in a restroom has been indicted by a Baltimore County grand jury on 12 counts that could send him to prison for the rest of his life. Sean T. Schleigh, who was arrested at the scene on Dec. 16 after school staff members heard the 12-year-old boy's screams, could receive two life sentences plus 130 years if convicted on all the charges and given maximum terms. The charges center on allegations that Schleigh waited in a bathroom of the Dundalk school until the boy came in, crudely propositioned him and, rebuffed, stuck a sock in the student's mouth, punched him in the face, neck and chest, and attempted to sexually assault him. In the grand jury indictment, Schleigh was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree sex offense, each of which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison; two counts of second-degree sex offense, 20 years each; kidnapping, 30 years; first-degree assault, 25 years; two counts of second-degree assault, 10 years and $2,500 in fines each; second-degree burglary, 15 years; trespassing upon a posted property, 90 days and a $500 fine; trespassing upon a school property, six months and a $1,000 fine; and false imprisonment, which could mean any penalty "that is not considered cruel or unusual punishment," according to the document.

A federal grand jury in Maryland has charged the chairman of the Senate's powerful budget panel and two former supermarket executives with bribery, extortion and other criminal offenses in an 18-count indictment. In announcing the charges Wednesday, prosecutors said Sen. Ulysses Currie, a Democrat, had misused his influence for personal gain while helping Shoppers Food Warehouse expand in Maryland. "Government officials cross a bright line when they accept payments in return for using the authority of their office, whether they take cash in envelopes or checks labeled as consulting payments," U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement.

The state prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into allegations that several elected officials and politically connected operatives in Prince George's County tried to shake down a developer who wanted to lease space to a county agency, according to a source familiar with the state probe. Jonathan S. Shurberg, an attorney for developer Arun Luthra, said his client received a subpoena about a week ago to testify before a grand jury July 1. "My client will be in front of the grand jury," Shurberg said.

Kareem Guest ignored the "stop snitching" credo, and authorities say his candid chatter to the FBI about drug dealers got him killed. The woman police say saw him get shot won't talk about it, and prosecutors have charged her with lying to a grand jury and want her imprisoned for 30 years. It is at first glance an all-too-familiar and tragic tale of witness intimidation and a demonstration of the collateral damage of Baltimore's epic drug war, but with a sardonic twist: The silence of one witness has thwarted efforts to make an arrest in the silencing of another.

Suspect in teen's rape, fatal stabbing pleads not guilty Dante Parrish, 35, pleaded not guilty Friday to murder and sexual offense charges connected with the Nov. 10 rape and stabbing of 15-year-old Jason Mattison Jr., a sophomore at West Baltimore's Vivian T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy. A Baltimore grand jury indicted Parrish last month. He was released early from prison last January after winning a new trial on a separate murder charge. The boy's body was found in his aunt's second-floor closet; he was gagged with a pillowcase and had been stabbed repeatedly in the head and throat.

Thomas L. Meighan Jr., who is facing automobile manslaughter charges in connection with the October hit-and-run death of a Johns Hopkins University student, was also indicted by a Baltimore City Circuit Court grand jury last month on 14 other counts related to a hit-and-run incident from July. An arraignment is scheduled for next week, even though the indictment, which supersedes earlier traffic charges filed in the city's District Court, does not yet show up in public records because of a filing lapse.

The parents of a 23-month-old Howard County girl who died of heat stroke after being left in the family car for several hours on June 25 will not be prosecuted, Howard County State's Attorney Dario Broccolino said Wednesday. Broccolino said that his office had recommended that the parents be charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, but that the grand jury declined to indict the Ellicott City couple, whose names have not been made public. According to police, "a change in routine" led to some miscommunication between the parents about who was taking the toddler to day care.

An Anne Arundel County jury acquitted a Waldorf man Friday who prosecutors alleged had tried to erase a $400 drug debt by shooting a pregnant woman. Jerold R. Burks, 22, thanked his lawyer, weeping parents and God after the jury, which had deliberated seven hours over two days, found him not guilty of attempted murder, conspiracy and related charges. "Never for a second" did Burks' parents think he shot hairdresser Jodi Torok in the head in the foyer of her Crofton home on Oct. 27, 2008, said Darryl Burks, the defendant's father.