Officers

A cabal of corrupt corrections officers and members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang enjoyed nearly free rein inside the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal authorities allege, smuggling drugs and cellphones into the jail and having sexual relationships that left four guards pregnant. An indictment unsealed Tuesday names 25 people - including 13 women working as corrections officers - who face racketeering and drug charges. Twenty of the accused also face money-laundering charges.

Tracy Balazs, the president and CEO of an Annapolis-based staffing firm, was named Entrepreneurial Success of the Year last month by the Baltimore district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration. She founded the company, Federal Staffing Resources LLC, in 2004. It now employs more than 300 people, has eight offices across the country and generates more than $30 million in revenue annually. The company mainly provides health professionals to government outfits, including the Army, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Federal Aviation Administration, though FSR recently expanded its operations to the staffing of private companies.

A 20-year-old cousin of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was one of two men fatally shot in separate incidents Wednesday night in Baltimore, the latest victims of the city's relentless pace of gun violence. Joseph Haskins, 20, was shot inside a house just blocks from his family's home in the Northwest Baltimore neighborhood of Forest Park. Police said the shooting appeared to be the result of home invasion robbery, but detectives still were investigating. They said it was unclear whether Haskins was targeted.

When Anne Arundel County Sheriff Ron Bateman first suggested withholding state tax refunds from people who have open warrants nearly three years ago, critics said it was a foolish pursuit. "One of the criticisms I got was, 'How many criminals have jobs where they are going to get a tax refund?'" he recalled. He couldn't say. Now he can. "There were 396," he told the County Council during a recent budget hearing. This past tax season - the first with the program fully in effect - that's the number of letters the state comptroller's office sent, telling people if they wanted their money, they'd have to clear their open Anne Arundel County warrants.

A prominent Ellicott City blogger and businessman was stabbed to death by his daughter's 19-year-old boyfriend, who plotted with the 14-year-old girl to kill him so the two could run away together, Howard County police said Friday. Dennis Lane, 58, was found before dawn in his Winding Ross Way home. Police charged Jason Anthony Bulmer and Morgan Lane Arnold, both students at Mount Hebron High School, as adults in his killing; they both face conspiracy and murder counts. Both were held without bail, according to online court records.

As the alleged leader of the Black Guerrilla Family gang at the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal prosecutors say, Tavon White could get access to pretty much whatever he wanted: drugs, phones, money and sex. He is now being held under more straitened circumstances at a state prison in Cumberland, according to his attorney, who is asking a judge to reconsider the conditions of his detention. "The totality of his belongings were as follows: A jump suit, one pair of underwear, shower sandals, a sheet for the bed. Period," the lawyer, Gary E. Proctor, wrote in a court filing.

I have lots of questions about the Black Guerrilla Family case, starting with this: Was the warden of the Baltimore City Detention Center asked to approve maternity leave for any of the female correctional officers allegedly impregnated by inmate Tavon "Bulldog" White? I thought it was a pretty good question. A taxpayer's question. According to the U.S. attorney's office, White got four of his jailers pregnant. (Do you think these women knew what was going on before the indictment came down?

Baltimore officials plan to give $100,000 to the family of man shot and killed by police in a North Baltimore alley four years ago. The city spending panel, the Board of Estimates, is expected on Wednesday to approve the payment to settle a multimillion-dollar lawsuit brought by the family of Shawn Corey Cannady, who was 30 at the time of his death. On March 6, 2009, Baltimore Police Officer Jemell Rayam and two other detectives were driving past an alley near the 2800 block of W. Garrison Ave., when they saw Cannady with his "hands in his waist area," according to board documents.

Several Maryland correctional officers witnessed Davon Cole, 19, strangle a cellmate at the Baltimore City Detention Center Monday night, according to court documents charging Cole with first- and second-degree murder and assault. The suspect "disregarded the officers' orders" to release Xavier Tilghman, 21, the documents state, and officers had to enter the cell to pull him off the victim. Cole had Tilghman pinned to the floor with his "arm wrapped tightly around Tilghman's neck," the officers told investigators.

A 26-year-old inmate at a state prison in Jessup died Friday after he was found with severe head injuries on Thursday night, Maryland State Police said. Javaughn A. Young was found lying on a walkway in a wing of the Maryland Correctional Institution about 7 p.m., after another inmate alerted correctional officers that an inmate needed assistance, police said. More than 60 inmates are housed in the wing. The officers found Young with severe head trauma and called for medical assistance, police said.

Paul L. Ensor, a retired Baltimore County police officer, died Thursday from colon cancer at Sunflower Assisted-Living in Westminster. He was 95. The son of farmers, Paul LeRoy Ensor was born and raised in Sparks. He attended Baltimore County public schools. Mr. Ensor was working at Bendix Corp. when he joined the Baltimore County Police Department in 1952. He was assigned to the Garrison Precinct, where he drove the patrol wagon, family members said. He retired in 1975. The longtime Owings Mills resident, who had lived in Upperco for the last 22 years, enjoyed fishing, crabbing and gardening.

Four former and current African-American Annapolis police officers have filed a federal racial-discrimination lawsuit against the city, claiming that they were unfairly treated, subjected to harassment, wrongly turned down for promotions and, for two of them, given walking papers. "African-American officers in the Annapolis police department are subjected to unequal treatment," claims the lawsuit, which was filed this month in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. It also claims that the black officers were singled out for harsher discipline than white colleagues.

Baltimore's housing office has disbanded its security unit, laying off seven sworn police officers, the agency said Thursday. The duties of the Lease Enforcement Unit - which investigates criminal activity in public housing to determine if a resident has violated his or her lease - will be assumed by housing's Inspector General's office, which investigates fraud, waste and abuse, said Cheron Porter, a spokeswoman for Baltimore Housing. "The Housing Authority of Baltimore City budget has suffered cuts generally over the past couple of years and with sequestration, more cuts could be on the horizon," Porter said in an email.

Baltimore police officer Robert W. Mitchell faces a second-degree assault charge after police and prosecutors accused him of overstepping his powers and beating a young man more than a year ago. The Baltimore state's attorney's office also charged Mitchell on Friday with two counts of misconduct in office. Prosecutors allege that Mitchell beat Baltimore resident Tiyon Williams in the 1000 block of N. Mount St. on May 19, 2012. "The allegations against Mr. Mitchell are reprehensible," Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said in a statement, "and I promise we will continue to aggressively target those who sacrilege the good men and women of this department and the sacred privilege of serving our community.

A school police officer at Pikesville High School was assaulted after responding to a fight in the gym this morning, Baltimore County police said. The fight broke out between two students shortly before 9:40 a.m., said Cpl. Cathy Batton, a police spokeswoman. No injuries were reported. Charges are pending against both students, Batton said. alisonk@baltsun.com twitter.com/aliknez

Since 1901, Annapolis residents and downtown workers have been dropping off letters and buying stamps at the brick Georgian Revival-style post office on Church Circle. But not for much longer. A vote by the state's Board of Public Works on Wednesday seals the eventual fate of the post office. The state is buying the office for $3.2 million, with eventual plans to use the building for government offices. "The state saw an opportunity to retain the historic value of the building, particularly because it's in the footprint of other state-owned facilities.

The Baltimore Police Department tapped one of its lawyers as the new head of internal affairs, saying Rodney Hill's experience as an officer and his recent turn as a prosecutor of police misconduct cases give him the credibility to lead a group charged with restoring public trust. Hill, 50, replaces Grayling Williams, who left in March to accept a position with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. Since April 2012, Hill has been assigned to the Police Department through the city's Law Department, providing legal advice to internal investigators, prosecuting police officers at internal disciplinary hearing boards and representing the department in court.

Anne Arundel County Executive Laura A. Neuman has launched an investigation into allegations that county Police Chief Larry Tolliver used homophobic slurs and retaliated against officers whose testimony led to her predecessor's criminal conviction for misconduct. County Councilman Jamie Benoit called for the investigation in a letter to Neuman in which he recounted allegations from officers that Tolliver moved the detectives to less desirable positions and used the anti-gay term "fag.

The Annapolis-based law firm Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC has acquired and is merging with the Law Offices of Arnold M. Weiner, located in Baltimore. The merger will go into effect on July 1, according to a statement from the firms released Wednesday. After the merger, the firm will be called Rifkin, Weiner, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC. Alan M. Rifkin, managing partner of the firm, said that Rifkin, Livingston has been looking to re-establish a Baltimore office and this merger offered the right opportunity.

Maryland officials agreed Wednesday to buy the historic Annapolis post office building from the U.S. Postal Service for use as part of the government complex surrounding the State House. Without dissent, the three-member Board of Public Works agreed to pay $3.2 million for the 13,000-square-foot building on Church Circle. Built in 1901, the structure is listed on the Maryland Historical Trust inventory of historic properties. Under the deal, the state will lease space back to the Postal Service to continue services for eight to 20 months until it relocates.