Maximum Penalty

A 31-year-old man convicted by a jury of manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boxing standout last year was sentenced Thursday to the maximum of 10 years in prison. Terrance Sims said he never meant to harm Ronald Gibbs, a nationally-ranked boxer with Olympic aspirations. Sims had given a ride on March 6, 2011 to a woman dating Gibbs' sister, and both Sims and Gibbs got involved in a fight between the two women. Though Gibbs, known as "Rock," was skilled with his hands, he was no match for the knife wielded by Sims.  Circuit Court Judge John Addison Howard noted that Sims had been convicted of manslaughter for a shooting exactly 10 years to the day before that Gibbs was stabbed, and that in 2009 Howard had sentenced Sims to three years in prison for heroin distribution.  "There's no question that there are a lot of people in your family who have a great deal of faith in your character," Howard told Sims.

Christopher Dreisbach is right that if abortion at any stage is murder, then it's difficult to oppose Rep. Todd Akin's claim that an aborted fetus resulting from rape is an innocent victim ("Abortion ethics not so simple," Aug. 28). But it is equally difficult for Mr. Akin and others who claim to believe that abortion is murder to explain why abortionists, and their accomplices and co-conspirators, should not be subject to the penalties we apply in the case of other premeditated murders.

A 25-year-old Baltimore man with a string of burglary and house break-in convictions was sentenced yesterday to 25 years without parole.Marvin L. Skiles of the 6200 block of Ellicott St. was sentenced by Circuit Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr., ending a case that wound its way through the appellate courts.Skiles was convicted of burglary and felony theft in June 1992.According to testimony, police called to a Brooklyn Park home Nov. 8, 1991, found a door kicked in and Skiles inside the house with a gold ring on his right middle finger and a half-dozen pieces of jewelry in his pockets.

The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation Wednesday that would cut the penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana in a way that curtails the right to an initial jury trial on the charges. By a 16-4 vote, members said, the panel gave its OK to Del. Luke Clippingers's bill setting the maximum penalty for possesssion of 7 grams or less of marijuana at 90 days and a $500 fine. Previously those convicted of the charge could have been given up to a year in jail. With a potential penalty of more than 90 days, defendants were entitled to a jury trial in Circuit Court  -- an option may have taken.  Under the legislation, defendants would initially be  tried before a District Court judge but would retain the right to appeal to the Circuit Court.

Two Baltimore men were each sentenced to 50 years yesterday for the murder of a nationally recognized scholar-athlete from Walbrook High School who was killed in a hail of gunfire outside a city nightclub. The 50-year sentences for Terrell J. Neal, 22, and Gary A. Hall, 26, were the maximum penalties Baltimore Circuit Judge John N. Prevas could impose.Neal and Hall were convicted Sept. 30 of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Tyrone Carroll on May 26, 1996, outside Club Indigo, a nonalcoholic dance club in Lexington Market.

Former Baltimore Officer Rodney Price was sentenced yesterday to 50 years in prison for shooting his wife's boyfriend 21 times with his police-issued gun. The life sentence with all but 50 years suspended was the maximum penalty Price had agreed to under a plea deal. Even so, defense attorney Catherine Flynn lobbied Baltimore Circuit Judge Clifton J. Gordy to impose half that time, arguing that Price, 35, was a good man who simply "snapped" when he emptied his gun into Tristin D. Little Sr., 28. Flynn also suggested the state was being hard on him because he was an officer.

Despite his insistent protests that he did not commit the crime, Brady G. Spicer was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 30 years in prison yesterday for beating Annapolis tavern owner Francis "Bones" Denvir over the head with a bottle.Mr. Denvir was hit on the head more than 25 times with a liquor bottle as he was signing paychecks in the upstairs office of Armadillo's, a downtown Annapolis restaurant and bar. The attack on Feb. 22, 1990, was so severe that most of his facial bones had to be reconstructed.

Agents from the Maryland comptroller's office arrested a 21-year-old New York man along Interstate 95 earlier this week on charges of possessing and transporting more than 1,000 cartons of contraband cigarettes.Marvin A. Bond, assistant comptroller, said agents from his office stopped Khlaed S. Almulaili, 21, of the Bronx, N.Y., on Monday near Route 175 in Jessup and confiscated 1,015 cartons of cigarettes and a 1990 Chevrolet Lumina minivan.Almulaili was charged with illegal possession and transportation of untaxed cigarettes.

A former clerk of the Baltimore office of the FBI was indicted yesterday on two counts of bribery for allegedly providing confidential information in exchange for $400.Shawnda S. Waters, 23, of Woodlawn, accepted the two $200 bribes Aug. 11 and Aug. 12 for revealing information from the FBI's computerized database, the indictment from the U.S. attorney's office alleges. She was fired Aug. 15.If convicted, Ms. Waters would face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each felony count.

A Manchester man was arrested and charged with operating a vessel while intoxicated on Spa Creek, in the Annapolis area, Sunday.Donald E. Keresztenyi, 40, of the 3300 block of Wilhelm Lane was released on his own recognizance for a hearing Aug. 26, according to a spokesman for Maryland Natural Resources Police. Officer Steven Jones reported he observed a boat speeding in a 6-knot-per-hour zone near the Yatch Basin Marina, police said.The maximum penalty for operating a vessel while intoxicated is one year in jail and a fine of $1,000.

A 31-year-old man convicted by a jury of manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boxing standout last year was sentenced Thursday to the maximum of 10 years in prison. Terrance Sims said he never meant to harm Ronald Gibbs, a nationally-ranked boxer with Olympic aspirations. Sims had given a ride on March 6, 2011 to a woman dating Gibbs' sister, and both Sims and Gibbs got involved in a fight between the two women. Though Gibbs, known as "Rock," was skilled with his hands, he was no match for the knife wielded by Sims.  Circuit Court Judge John Addison Howard noted that Sims had been convicted of manslaughter for a shooting exactly 10 years to the day before that Gibbs was stabbed, and that in 2009 Howard had sentenced Sims to three years in prison for heroin distribution.  "There's no question that there are a lot of people in your family who have a great deal of faith in your character," Howard told Sims.

The big news in Baltimore this week was the theft of the "8" statue from the Eutaw Street Plaza at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The number is a tribute, of course, to none other than Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr., the closest thing we have to a favorite son. He is to this city what George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are to the country, but with better teeth and the ability to turn a double play. What could possibly have motivated the four young men arrested by city police in this atrocity?

A Brooklyn man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday in Anne Arundel County District Court in the May fatal shooting of an Annapolis man. Deonte Desmund Boyd, 25, of the 3700 block of St. Margaret St. also pleaded guilty to a handgun violation in the death of Michael Lee Thompson Sr., 31. According to a statement of facts read by Assistant State's Attorney Kelly Poma, Thompson had suffered 10 gunshot wounds, including two to the head that appeared...

Christopher Nieto believes in Baltimore. His car has been broken into four times. They took his iPod, his Discman and the empty plastic suction cup that held his navigational device. They even stripped the rubber off his wiper blades. His former house in Pigtown was burglarized three times. They took two television sets, his suits, watches and two laptop computers. "I have absolutely nothing left of value anymore," he says. "I'm down to a pretty skeletal home life." Christopher Nieto also believes in his job. He is a public defender.

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.

A former Columbia resident accused of raping and assaulting his estranged wife was found not guilty yesterday by a Howard County jury. The jury acquitted David T. McNey, 44, on all six charges he faced -- first- and second-degree rape, a third-degree sex offense, first- and second-degree assault, and false imprisonment. McNey's wife, Michelle McNey, from whom he had been separated since November 2006, reported to police in December of that year that he threatened her with a shotgun and raped her. McNey faced a maximum penalty of life in prison.

A Brooklyn man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday in Anne Arundel County District Court in the May fatal shooting of an Annapolis man. Deonte Desmund Boyd, 25, of the 3700 block of St. Margaret St. also pleaded guilty to a handgun violation in the death of Michael Lee Thompson Sr., 31. According to a statement of facts read by Assistant State's Attorney Kelly Poma, Thompson had suffered 10 gunshot wounds, including two to the head that appeared...

A former Columbia resident accused of raping and assaulting his estranged wife was found not guilty yesterday by a Howard County jury. The jury acquitted David T. McNey, 44, on all six charges he faced -- first- and second-degree rape, a third-degree sex offense, first- and second-degree assault, and false imprisonment. McNey's wife, Michelle McNey, from whom he had been separated since November 2006, reported to police in December of that year that he threatened her with a shotgun and raped her. McNey faced a maximum penalty of life in prison.

A Columbia woman whose conviction in the 2005 strangulation of a fellow Loyola College doctoral student was overturned in September agreed to a plea deal yesterday in Howard County Circuit Court that freed her from prison. The state Court of Special Appeals had ruled that Melissa Burch Harton, 27, was entitled to a new trial after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter because Howard County detectives waited until she made incriminating statements to advise her of her Miranda rights.

An Anne Arundel County grand jury has indicted the son of an East Baltimore state delegate on charges that he stole from his mother's campaign finance account and violated election laws by managing her money without authorization. Robert "Skip" Harrison Jr. of the 1600 block of Northwick Road in Baltimore was also indicted on a charge of failing to file state income tax returns for three years, said the Office of the State Prosecutor. The state prosecutor began investigating Harrison, the son of Del. Hattie N. Harrison, after the State Board of Elections reported about a year ago that the delegate had not filed campaign finance reports.