Possession

Ten people have been charged with drug possession after a raid on a Brooklyn Park house Tuesday night, Anne Arundel County police said Wednesday. Officers from the Northern District's Tactical Narcotics Team and Tactical Patrol Unit found cocaine and heroin in the house in the 200 block of W. Arden Road when they raided it about 9 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Officers also found devices to smoke crack cocaine, syringes to inject heroin, drug-packing materials and tally sheets to track the sales of drugs.

A 21-year-old Columbia man was acquitted of first-degree murder in a botched robbery last year that led to a shooting death. The jury in Howard County Circuit Court also found Ronald McConnell not guilty of first-degree robbery and first-degree assault in the May 2008 incident, in which Jason Batts was killed. McConnell was found guilty of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and two gun possession charges. The trial lasted more than a week, and the jury deliberated over two days before returning its verdict Thursday night.

A William H. Lemmel Middle School teacher was arrested yesterday and charged with possession of methadone that she is suspected of buying on her way to work, Baltimore police said. About 7:15 a.m., undercover officers observed a man selling what turned out to be a 2-ounce bottle of methadone to a woman in the 2000 block of N. Charles St., said Detective David Jones of the Central District's drug enforcement unit. The officers arrested the dealer, and the woman was arrested by uniformed officers who stopped her car about two miles away in the 2500 block of W. North Ave. and seized the methadone, Jones said.

A federal jury in Baltimore convicted a 45-year-old Delaware man yesterday of distributing a large amount of cocaine in Cecil County. Nigel Humphrey John Baptiste of New Castle, Del., was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine in the Winding Brook community of Elkton from 2004 through 2006 and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Co-defendant Andre Lamar Ricks, 27, who used to live in Winding Brook, pleaded guilty during the trial to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. granted clemency to 18 people yesterday, bringing to 249 the number of pardons and commutations he has issued in his term. Yesterday's clemency orders went to: Marie T. Alexis, 54, convicted of battery in 1990; Debra Y. Blowe, 50, convicted of welfare fraud in 1977; Timothy Breth, 55, convicted of breaking and entering and seven counts of larceny in 1970, and possession of controlled dangerous substance and paraphernalia in 1974; Tammy L. Carper, 41, convicted of distribution of phencyclidine in 1984; and Alverta L. Chapman, 47, convicted of shoplifting in 1978.

In separate federal trials this week, juries convicted three men on drug distribution charges, including two defendants who were targeted by prosecutors and city police because of their extensive criminal records. On Tuesday, Earl Gordon, 27, was convicted of possessing crack cocaine with the intention of selling the drug. A separate jury convicted Victor White, 49, on Wednesday of possession of heroin and cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Carlos Woods, 23, was convicted yesterday of drug possession with intent to distribute.

A member of the Bloods gang received a 10-year-prison sentence yesterday in federal court in Baltimore after his conviction on a gun possession charge. U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Lanikko Santiago, 26, of Baltimore, to the prison term followed by three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm and for possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. According to the testimony presented at his two day trial, Santiago was a passenger in the rear seat of a vehicle on Nov. 8, 2006 that was pulled over by Baltimore City Police detectives for a traffic stop.

After stopping a van for speeding on southbound Interstate 95 in Jessup yesterday, state troopers searched the vehicle and reported finding several pounds of suspected semisolid marijuana and hashish oil worth several thousand dollars.Three Florida men were arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, police said. Tfc. Clifford Hughes of the Waterloo barracks, who was driving an unmarked patrol vehicle, said he paced the 1986 Chevrolet van with Florida tags at 77 mph in a 65-mph zone and stopped it about 8: 30 a.m.He said he became suspicious when he noticed that there was no luggage in the van and when the men gave conflicting information about their trip to New York.

SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, I asked the question: Who should be our next president? Should we elect yet another member of what future historians, looking back on late 20th-century American political leadership, will refer to as "The Long String of Bozos"? Or should we have the courage and wisdom to boldly change course and place the future of our great nation -- and, yes, the world -- into the capable, experienced hands of a professional humor columnist?Imagine how totally shocked and surprised I was when many of you wrote to me, sometimes in crayon, and said: "Our next president should be YOU, Dave!

Three people were being held Friday on cocaine distribution charges after police raided a Westminster motel room Thursday evening, court records show.Detectives carrying a search warrant entered a room at the Boston Inn, in the 500 block of Baltimore Blvd., at 7: 24 p.m. and made the arrests after finding suspected crack cocaine on a table, according to charging documents.Arrested were Wayne E. Reightler, 38, of the first block of John St. in Westminster; Ann E. Chase, 25, of the 1200 block of Woodland Circle in New Windsor; and Eric L. Bennett, 22, of the 800 block of Cator Ave. in Baltimore.

The last time the Ravens traveled to Foxborough, Mass., to face the New England Patriots, Nov. 28, 2004, they suffered their most lopsided loss in two years. The 24-3 loss led to a 2-3 finish that cost them a postseason berth. The Ravens were hurt by their record-worst performance on offense (they gained 124 yards of total offense and didn't cross midfield in the second half) and a lackluster defensive performance (they gave up 314 yards, and the Patriots had an edge of more than 10 minutes in time of possession)

For as well as Navy's defense has played at times this season - the Midshipmen rank 34th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total defense (299.67 yards per game) - there is one thing that has been bothering its players. In all three games, the defense has started the game on the field, and in all three games, it has given up a long touchdown drive on that opening possession. Navy has trailed 7-0 before its offense has touched the ball. "It's just frustrating for us as a defense; I don't think we've shut anyone down on the first series so far," senior linebacker Ross Pospisil said after Saturday's loss to Pittsburgh.

Authorities say Terrell Allen was a Baltimore drug kingpin who kidnapped the teenage brothers of an alleged rival in 2008 and returned them for a half-million-dollar ransom, launching a string of retaliatory shootings that has continued right up until this summer. But his attorney denies the allegations, and Allen has never been formally charged with any of them. Instead, he was convicted Tuesday on the easiest thing to prove: possession of ammunition, a federal offense for a felon like Allen, who has prior convictions for manslaughter and drugs and has beaten dozens of other charges, including murder.

As the officer in charge of a Howard County police detail at Merriweather Post Pavilion concerts, Capt. John McKissick says that "different bands draw different kinds of crowds." In the case of Phish, often compared to the Grateful Dead, some in the crowd of 20,000 were doing drugs Saturday night, when police made 31 drug-related arrests - the most of any concert in recent memory, McKissick said Tuesday. Four out-of-state men were arrested and charged with drug possession, intent to distribute and possession of paraphernalia, police said.

A Baltimore man was arrested Thursday after officers found drugs, a handgun and ammunition in a home where two children ages 4 and 6 were locked inside, police said. Corey Baker, 39, of the 2600 block of Seamon Ave., was stopped by officers on patrol in Cherry Hill and admitted that he was in possession of marijuana, police said. He was arrested and then told the officers that his children were home alone. Officers responded to the home with Baker to check on the safety of the children.

A 21-year-old Columbia man received a 30-year sentence Friday morning in Howard County Circuit Court for his role in a botched robbery last year that led to a man's death. Ronald Derrick McConnell received 20 years for conspiracy to commit armed robbery; five years for possession of an unregistered rifle/shotgun; and five years for possession of a firearm by a person with a felony conviction, a violation of his probation from a previous second-degree assault charge. McConnell will serve the sentences consecutively.

The last time Qonta Waddell's mother saw him alive, the slightly built 24-year-old was hogtied and screaming for his life as he was carried away by two men with handguns. City police have charged Sherman Anderson, 32, in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Waddell, who was found shot to death in a West Baltimore alley four miles from his mother's house. Anderson has been arrested nearly 40 times, never serving significant jail time, and has beaten charges of attempted first-degree murder three times.

A 48-year-old Northeast Baltimore man was ordered held without bond Thursday after being charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 53-year-old man. The victim was found dead Saturday of injuries he suffered after the two men got into a fight, according to court records. Detective Gordon Carew wrote in charging documents that Vincent "Vinny" Cala repeatedly hit Frank Swiston in the head with his hands, causing internal bleeding. Swiston bled internally over several hours and was found dead on a sofa in his home in the 2800 block of Erdman Ave. Cala and Swiston shared an address, though their relationship, if any, was not clear.

Ten people have been charged with drug possession after a raid on a Brooklyn Park house Tuesday night, Anne Arundel County police said Wednesday. Officers from the Northern District's Tactical Narcotics Team and Tactical Patrol Unit found cocaine and heroin in the house in the 200 block of W. Arden Road when they raided it about 9 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Officers also found devices to smoke crack cocaine, syringes to inject heroin, drug-packing materials and tally sheets to track the sales of drugs.

A 21-year-old Columbia man was acquitted of first-degree murder in a botched robbery last year that led to a shooting death. The jury in Howard County Circuit Court also found Ronald McConnell not guilty of first-degree robbery and first-degree assault in the May 2008 incident, in which Jason Batts was killed. McConnell was found guilty of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and two gun possession charges. The trial lasted more than a week, and the jury deliberated over two days before returning its verdict Thursday night.