Showing posts with label extortion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label extortion. Show all posts

Thursday, September 2, 2010

MD. Senate Committee Chairman Indicted On Extortion and Bribery Charges

A federal grand jury has indicted powerful Maryland Senate committee chairman Ulysses S. Currie on charges of bribery, extortion, and mail fraud and making false statements.

Currie, a Democrat from Forestville in Prince George's County, is accused of taking an off-the-book job with Shoppers Food Warehouse in exchange for using his official position to influence government business to benefit the supermarket chain. He has been under federal investigation for more than two years for working as a consultant for Shoppers without disclosing the work in financial disclosure forms.

"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 Wednesday.

Prosecutors said Currie received monthly payments of up to $7,600 for a total of nearly $240,000 during the six-year scheme.

The 18-count indictment alleges that after Currie became chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee in 2002, he asked to be placed on the payroll of Shoppers Food Warehouse Corp.

Two former grocery store chain executives are also charged in the scheme. They are former Shoppers President William White, 67, of Annapolis, and grocery store real estate executive Kevin Small, 55, of Lewisburg, Pa.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said Wednesday that Currie told him he will step aside as chairman.

The indictment alleges that in 2007, the 73-year-old Currie prepared a list called "Accomplishments on Behalf of Shoppers," to justify his payments and listed 12 projects he had furthered on behalf of the grocer.

As part of the conspiracy, prosecutors said Currie:

¥ Persuaded government officials to give up the right to purchase land in Chillum owned by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, so that the property could be bought to expand a Shoppers supermarket.

¥ Met with government officials to secure $2 million for a Baltimore supermarket to lower the costs of opening a Shoppers store.

¥ Lobbied the Prince George's County Liquor Board to allow the transfer of a liquor license from one Shoppers store to another, and then arranged for another state lawmaker to introduce legislation to approve the transfer and then voted on it.

¥ Convened meetings in his Senate office with state officials to obtain a grant of up to $3 million for road improvements for the supermarket.

¥ Used official letterhead to repeatedly lobby Maryland highway officials for traffic signals at Shoppers stores in Laurel and Baltimore County.

If convicted, Currie, White and Small face more than 80 years in prison.

In a separate criminal filing, Shoppers Food Warehouse Corp., has agreed to pay a $2.5 million penalty. The court must approve the agreement.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Federal Grand Jury Indicts 15 In Connection With Gang

Correctional officer among those accused of working for Black Guerrilla Family


A Jessup correctional officer was arrested Tuesday morning on federal drug charges, revealing a sweeping effort to wipe out one of Maryland's most notorious gangs through related racketeering indictments.

Alicia Simmons, 34, is accused of smuggling cell phones and heroin into prison for incarcerated members of the powerful Black Guerrilla Family, which court documents say has used such connections for years to live luxuriously behind bars and maintain mafioso-type control of its widespread criminal organization.

Simmons is the fifth Maryland prison guard implicated in the far-reaching scheme, which goes back to 2006 and includes a total of 37 defendants charged since last year.

But court papers unsealed Tuesday after Simmons' arrest show that 14 BGF members also face fresh racketeering charges from a new federal indictment returned June 23. That means each of the alleged gang members could be held responsible for their comrades' crimes if convicted.

This is the most powerful tool we have in our federal toolbox to prosecute" criminal organizations, Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said Tuesday during a news conference to announce the charges.

His office has already used racketeering laws to prosecute local members of the Bloods, Latin Kings and MS-13 gangs en masse, "And today," Rosenstein said, "we add Black Guerrilla Family to that list."

The case was first highlighted in April 2009, when a federal indictment and related court papers outlined a surprisingly good life being led by BGF members serving terms in Maryland prisons. With the help of corrupt officers, they feasted on fresh salmon and shrimp, swilled Grey Goose vodka and smoked pricey cigars, while using contraband cell phones to order assaults, arrange drug dealings and run day-to-day gang operations.

The 23-page indictment unsealed Tuesday supersedes last year's version and builds on it. It describes the BGF as a sophisticated paramilitary operation that kept a "treasury," made motivational T-shirts (slogan: "Revolution is the Only Solution"), held meetings in Druid Hill Park, developed a gang manual, conducted counter-surveillance on law-enforcement agents and paid off prison workers like Simmons with cash and debit cards.

The four Maryland prison guards charged in last year's indictment have all pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy. And all but one of them have been sentenced, receiving federal prison terms between 12 and 24 months.

Two other Maryland guards were sentenced within the past year for doing BGF's bidding in unrelated cases. Lynae Chapman received two years in state prison last month after pleading guilty to supplying drugs and a cell phone to her boyfriend, an alleged BGF member in the Baltimore City Detention Center. And officer Fonda White was sentenced to six months in federal prison for extorting "protection money" from prisoners and their relatives with the help of her locked-up lover, a BGF member.

Maryland Correction Commissioner J. Michael Stouffer acknowledged Tuesday that the BGF has been a "negative influence" within the state's prisons for a long time, adding that the recent investigation and indictments are part of a clamping-down on both inmates and crooked staff.

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has added cell-phone-sniffing dogs and body-orifice scanners to help keep contraband out, improved its gang intelligence efforts and adopted new regulations that subject potential employees to expanded background checks.

"Today's indictments show that developing our intelligence capabilities has become a top priority in the last three years," DPSCS Secretary Gary D. Maynard said in a statement. "They also serve notice to those employees who would break the law, that you will be caught. We're working more effectively with law enforcement on everything from gang issues to contraband interdiction on a daily basis."

Tuesday's indictment culminates nearly two years of collaboration by state and federal authorities who used wiretaps, surveillance and countless man-hours to target the BGF. Baltimore assistant state's attorneys and assistant U.S. attorneys worked together with city police, Drug Enforcement Administration agents and corrections officials to bring the case together.

"It has to be a comprehensive strategy when it comes to dealing with gangs in our community," Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said during the news conference.

Maryland beefed up its anti-gang statute during the past legislative session, but the state doesn't have a racketeering law and often relies on the federal statutes for these cases. And Rosenstein has made dismantling gangs a focus, hiring three prosecutors last year dedicated solely to prosecuting gang members.

According to Tuesday's unsealed indictment, the BGF — also known as the "Black Vanguard," "Black Family" or just the "Family" — was founded in California in the 1960s and infiltrated Maryland's prison system roughly 30 years later (factions here tend to spell "Guerrilla" with two Rs, while others use one). Today, it's considered among the most powerful gangs in the state.

Its leaders, known as the "Supreme Bush," are organized into a "strict rank structure," according to the indictment, and they oversee similar "Bubble Regimes" within Baltimore neighborhoods and state prisons. Members must follow a code of behavior or risk physical violence, and they're expected to recruit new "seed" members to keep the gang alive, while furthering its criminal activities.

The superseding indictment covers activity going back to 2006, and includes claims of narcotics trafficking, robbery, extortion, bribery, witness intimidation and money laundering through the use of pre-paid debit cards.

Among those charged are the gang's alleged local leader, a 41-year-old named Eric Brown, who wrote the BGF handbook, entitled "Empower Black Families;" and Todd Duncan, 36, who worked for the Baltimore nonprofit Communities Organized to Improve Life Inc. while allegedly running much of Baltimore's BGF activities.

Brown is accused of ordering an assault on a BGF member behind in debt payments, handling illegal funds, and arranging for contraband to be smuggled into prison. Duncan is accused of selling sub-par heroin that had to be cut with better stuff to "improve the marketability."

Other defendants include Rainbow Williams, 31, who's accused of dealing drugs and arranging a meeting of 100 BGF members in Druid Hill Park last year; husband-and-wife team Cassandra Adams, 49, and Kevin Glasscho, 47; and Ray Olivis, 57; Deitra Davenport,39; Randolph Edison, 52; Zachary Norman, 53; Kimberly McIntosh, 41; Duconze Chambers, 36; Davon McFadden, 24; James Harried, 47; and Erik Ushry, 26.

All of the defendants, including Simmons, live in the city or in Baltimore County, and they're all charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin. Everyone but Simmons is charged with racketeering.

Some defendants are also charged with money laundering, using a gun to commit a robbery, and illegal possession of ammunition and a gun.

They face a maximum of life in prison on the racketeering and drug conspiracy charges.

"It does not matter if you wear the colors of a gang or a badge of gold," Ava Cooper-Davis, special agent in charge of the DEA, said during the news conference Tuesday. "If you break the law or try to destroy our communities, we will go after you."

www.baltimoresun.com