United States Attorney’s Office for The District of Maryland Announces Comprehensive Community Outreach Approach and Recent Convictions in the Project Safe Neighborhood Gun Violence Reduction Program

Baltimore, Maryland – At the moment, the USA Lawyer’s Workplace for the District of Maryland introduced the excellent neighborhood outreach technique that’s a part of the Venture Protected Neighborhoods program (PSN).  We’re additionally asserting convictions in a number of federal instances involving firearms and fentanyl as examples of the enforcement prong of PSN. 

“The US Lawyer’s Workplace for the District of Maryland stays vigilant within the effort to scale back gun violence and the trafficking of managed substances to make sure safer communities.  Nonetheless, prosecution alone isn’t sufficient to fight the influence of weapons and medicines in all through our communities.  Our technique to scale back violent crime statewide not solely focuses on the prosecution of violence and the distribution of lethal medication however by additionally by constructing neighborhood outreach and prevention efforts.  As a part of these efforts, we’re dedicated to offering returning residents with re-entry sources to scale back the variety of people biking out and in of the legal justice system,” mentioned U.S. Lawyer Erek L. Barron. “I encourage all returning residents and their households to attend re-entry useful resource festivals in Baltimore and Prince George’s County the place they’ll be taught extra about employment, housing, healthcare, and different help providers.  Our mission is obvious – we plan to not solely prosecute crime, we plan to stop it.”

Within the effort to positively affect college students, carry consciousness to folks and educators, and encourage earlier offenders to pursue a crime-free future, the USA Lawyer’s Workplace for the District of Maryland gives coaching and outreach to colleges, in addition to helps and participates in earlier offender re-entry efforts together with:

Re-Entry Useful resource Gala’s:

On April 27, 2022, the USA Lawyer’s Workplace for the District of Maryland is co-hosting a re-entry useful resource truthful from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on the Baltimore Conflict Memorial situated at 101 N. Homosexual Road, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202.  This occasion will characteristic info for returning residents and their households, together with employment, instructional, monetary, well being sources, and extra useful info.

On April 20, 2022, the USA Lawyer’s Workplace for the District of Maryland supported a re-entry useful resource truthful hosted by the Bridge Middle at Adam’s Home and Make use of Prince George’s.  This occasion featured info for returning residents and their households, together with employment, instructional, monetary, well being sources, and extra useful info.

Gang Tradition and Our Youngsters: How You Can Make a Distinction: This presentation examines the influence gang tradition is having on our kids and focuses on the adverse influences that conventional, nontraditional, and hybrid gangs have on our youth.  It’s designed by an authorized Maryland Police and Coaching Commissions teacher and Gang Consciousness coach and meets the coaching mandates of the Maryland Protected Colleges Act.

Venture Protected Neighborhood/Venture Protected Childhood Ballpark Outreach:  Throughout the summer time of 2022, the USA Lawyer’s Workplace and its federal regulation enforcement companions supply a variety of prevention and intervention literature for youth.  Future outreach will embody outreach at Frederick Keys, Delmarva Shorebirds, Aberdeen Ironbirds, and Bowie Baysox baseball video games.

Our workplace can also be out there to help native communities and teams in figuring out federal and state grant sources; present visitor audio system on all kinds of public issues of safety; and assist join people and teams to help and defend their communities.  For extra info on our workplace’s neighborhood outreach applications, or for questions, please go to our neighborhood outreach web page at https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

Along with our dedication to neighborhood outreach and engagement as a part of Venture Protected Neighborhoods this program additionally brings collectively all ranges of regulation enforcement and the communities they serve to scale back violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everybody.  PSN is the centerpiece of the Division of Justice’s violent crime discount efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program confirmed to be efficient at decreasing violent crime.  By PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work collectively to determine essentially the most urgent violent crime issues in the neighborhood and develop complete options to deal with them.  As a part of this technique, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on essentially the most violent offenders and companions with regionally primarily based prevention and reentry applications for lasting reductions in crime.  Some highlights of the USA Lawyer’s Workplace’s current PSN prosecutions embody:

United States v. Earl LeRoy Griffin Jr.:  On April 19, 2022, Earl Leroy Griffin Jr., age 45, of Sunderland, Maryland was sentenced to 180 months in federal jail for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  In response to the proof offered at his four-day trial, on September 5, 2019, regulation enforcement executed a search warrant at Griffin’s residence and on his automobile as a part of a drug investigation.  In Griffin’s locked automobile, regulation enforcement recovered a stolen .40 caliber handgun, powder cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.  The automobile was registered to Griffin.  When he was searched incident to his arrest, Griffin had the keys to his automobile and $1,870 in money in his pockets.  Griffin had 4 earlier felony drug convictions and knew that because of this, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition. 

United States v. Aaron Arthur Fields:  On April 1, 2022, Aaron Creator Fields, age 33, of Baltimore, Maryland pleaded responsible to conspiracy to distribute and distribution of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl and to possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and cocaine.  In response to his responsible plea, as the results of a Howard County deadly overdose, regulation enforcement found cellphone communications that indicated that a person had made preparations for the sufferer to buy managed substances from Fields.  Moreover, investigators recovered three grams of heroin, believed to have bought from Fields, from a person throughout a site visitors cease.  Regulation enforcement executed a search warrant at Area’s residence and recovered over 126 grams of cocaine, 28 grams of crack cocaine, and $1,911 in money.  Fields admitted that he distributed managed substances to Sufferer 1 and that the loss of life of Sufferer 1 resulted.  Fields faces a most sentence of 240 months in federal jail for distribution of managed substances and for the conspiracy to distribute managed substances and faces a most of 480 months in federal jail for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.  Fields is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24, 2022.

United States v. Zaid Rushdan:  In February 2022, Zaid Rushdan, age 41, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, pleaded responsible to federal prices of conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute PCP and crack cocaine, and to possession of stolen firearms.  Investigators decided that co-conspirators transported medication and drug proceeds to facilitate Rushdan’s drug trafficking enterprise after investigators noticed their frequent journeys to Rushdan’s residence.  In February 2021, regulation enforcement executed a search warrant at Rushdan’s residence and seized quite a lot of gadgets together with over a gallon (4,486 grams) of PCP, roughly 299 grams of powder cocaine, roughly 31 grams of crack cocaine, seven handguns, two rifles, roughly 652 rounds of ammunition, and $14,485 in money.  Rushdan additionally knew, or had affordable trigger to imagine, that 4 of the firearms had been stolen.  Rushdan is predicted to be sentenced to at the least 121 months, however no more than 151 months in federal jail on Could 5, 2022.

United States v. DeAundre Keys:  In February 2022, DeAundre Keys, age 35, of Lexington Park, Maryland, pleaded responsible to distribution of fentanyl and to being a felon in possession of a firearm.  As said in Keys’ responsible plea, Keys offered fentanyl to a few people.  One of many three people grew to become unresponsive and was later pronounced useless.  The Workplace of the Chief Medical Examiner for Maryland concluded that the sufferer’s reason for loss of life was fentanyl and alcohol intoxication.  Throughout an executed search warrant on Keys’ residence in March 2021, regulation enforcement recovered 30.07 grams of a combination containing fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, heroin, acetaminophen, 06-Monoacetylmorphine; drug paraphernalia, together with a digital scale with fentanyl residue; a reducing agent; and plastic glassine baggies used for narcotics packaging and distribution; a Polymer 9mm handgun with a 30-round journal containing 21 rounds of 9mm ammunition; one spherical of 9mm ammunition on the ground; two .40 magazines; an empty 30 spherical journal; and $7,080 in money, which had been proceeds of Keys’ drug gross sales.  The seized firearm was a ghost gun—privately made with components manufactured exterior Maryland, which has no serial quantity and isn’t a registered firearm.  Keys knew that he had a earlier felony conviction and was prohibited from possessing a firearm and/or ammunition.  Keys is predicted to be sentenced to between 120 months and 144 months in federal jail on Could 24, 2022.

United States v. Gibran Nelson-Smith:  In October 2021, Nelson-Smith, age 41, of Pikesville, Maryland, was sentenced to 228 months in federal jail for conspiracy to distribute kilogram portions of heroin, and crack cocaine and fentanyl.  In 2018 and 2019, Nelson-Smith exercised a supervisory position in a drug trafficking conspiracy that operated in and across the Baltimore space.  Nelson-Smith admitted that he endorsed using firearms by members of the group to take care of safety within the areas the place medication had been being offered, and in addition endorsed the use or threatened use of violence by members of the group to guard the drug gross sales actions of the group.  As the results of an executed search warrant at Nelson-Smith’s residence, regulation enforcement recovered a number of firearms, money, and a number of managed substances containing heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine.  Nelson-Smith agreed that over the course of the conspiracy, he and his conspirators distributed at the least a kilogram of heroin, at the least a kilogram of crack cocaine, at the least 250 grams of cocaine, and at the least 10 grams of fentanyl. 

United States v. Bobby Cannon:  In December 2021, Bobby Cannon, age 24, of Baltimore, pleaded responsible to committing two murders and collaborating within the violent legal conspiracy, the Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon (“NFL”) Felony Enterprise.  As a member of the NFL enterprise, Cannon admitted to distributing over one kilogram of heroin, greater than 400 grams of fentanyl, and greater than 280 grams of crack cocaine.  Cannon and his co-conspirators additionally participated in violent legal actions together with homicide, unlawful firearm possession, witness intimidation and extra. Particularly, in 2018, Cannon shot and killed an induvial on behalf of the NFL Felony Enterprise (Sufferer 1).  Sufferer 1 was believed to have been a federal witness cooperating with regulation enforcement.  Cannon additionally shot and killed Sufferer 1’s girlfriend.  Additional, Cannon deliberate and tried to homicide one other particular person (Sufferer 2) in alternate for cash from the NFL Felony Enterprise in January 2019.  Regardless of being shot y Cannon a number of occasions, Sufferer 2 survived the taking pictures.  Nonetheless, Sufferer 2 sustained life-threatening accidents.  Cannon is predicted to be sentenced to between 348 months and 432 months in federal jail on June 1, 2022.

These instances are a part of Venture Protected Neighborhoods, a program bringing collectively all ranges of regulation enforcement and the communities they serve to scale back violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everybody.  PSN is the centerpiece of the Division of Justice’s violent crime discount efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program confirmed to be efficient at decreasing violent crime.  By PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work collectively to determine essentially the most urgent violent crime issues in the neighborhood and develop complete options to deal with them.  As a part of this technique, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on essentially the most violent offenders and companions with regionally primarily based prevention and reentry applications for lasting reductions in crime.

For extra info on the Maryland U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace’s Venture Protected Neighborhoods program, a unified and complete technique to fight gun crime that mixes native, state and federal regulation enforcement efforts; neighborhood outreach; and public consciousness, please go to https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile.

For extra info on the Maryland U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace, its priorities, and sources out there to assist the neighborhood, please go to www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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