From the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore:
A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging three previously indicted Baltimore City Police Officers with additional robberies. The superseding indictment charges the defendants with racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, robbery, extortion, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The superseding indictment was unsealed today and charges the following defendants:
Sergeant Wayne Earl Jenkins, age 37, of Middle River, Maryland;
Detective Daniel Thomas Hersl, age 48, of Joppa, Maryland; and
Detective Marcus Roosevelt Taylor, age 30, of Glen Burnie, Maryland.
A federal grand jury also returned a separate indictment charging two additional defendants, who are not police officers but were posing as police officers, with robbing two Baltimore City residents and with brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The indictment alleges that the two named defendants committed the robbery with a Baltimore City police officer. The second indictment was unsealed today and charges the following defendants:
Thomas Robert Finnegan, age 38, of Easton, Pennsylvania; and
David Kendall Rahim, age 41, of Baltimore, Maryland.
Defendants Jenkins, Hersl, and Taylor had previously been ordered detained pending trial. Defendants Finnegan and Rahim will have their initial appearances in court today.
The superseding indictment and indictment were announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT
The 6-count superseding indictment alleges that Jenkins, Hersl and Taylor engaged in 13 robberies, extortion and time and attendance fraud. According to the superseding indictment, beginning in 2011, the defendants stole money, property, and narcotics by detaining victims, entering residences, conducting traffic stops, and swearing out false search warrant affidavits.
For example, as charged in the superseding indictment, in spring 2015, Jenkins stole at least 20 pounds of high-quality marijuana and at least $20,000 from two individuals who were conducting a drug sale at Belvedere Towers in Baltimore City. Jenkins falsely told the buyer and seller that he was a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent, to conceal his identity, and that he was seizing the money and drugs and would make a decision about whether to charge them later. Jenkins then drove Taylor and a co-defendant to a wooded area off Northern Parkway and gave them $5,000 each from the stolen money. After the incident, Jenkins went to a strip club in Baltimore County where he robbed a stripper.
Similarly, as charged in the superseding indictment, in summer 2016 Hersl stole money from the car of an arrestee. Hersl drove one of his co-defendants to the parking lot of a local high school, which was near the incident, and gave him a portion of the stolen money. While Hersl and the co-defendant were splitting the stolen money, Jenkins broke into the arrestee’s storage unit and stole 2 kilograms of cocaine.
The superseding indictment alleges that in June 2016 Jenkins believed that a co-defendant owed him money, so Jenkins gave the co-defendant drugs and a firearm that had been seized in a law enforcement operation, and told him to sell them. The co-defendant, along with another co-defendant, sold the firearm to a drug dealer.
The superseding indictment also alleges that the defendants committed systemic time and attendance fraud, including claiming overtime when they were at home and on vacation.
According to the superseding indictment, between spring 2011 and October 2016, the defendants allegedly conducted 13 separate robberies, taking over $280,000 in US currency, more than 2 kilograms of cocaine, other narcotics, a 9mm handgun, a $4,000 wristwatch, and other property.
The superseding indictment alleges that the defendants obstructed law enforcement by alerting each other about potential investigations of their criminal conduct, and turning off their body cameras to avoid recording encounters with civilians.
ROBBERY INDICTMENT
Thomas Robert Finnegan and David Kendall Rahim were indicted on charges of conspiracy, robbery, and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
On June 27, 2014, police officers with the BPD’s Gun Trace Task Force, executed a search warrant on a store in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Baltimore City. During the search, one of the police officers asked whether there was any large amounts of money in the store. The storeowner indicated that she had $20,000 in cash in her pocketbook that she was intending to use to pay off a tax liability. At this point, members of GTTF did not make arrests, nor seize anything from the property. Later that day, a member of the GTTF informed Finnegan and Rahim about the money and they agreed to set up a robbery at the home of the store owner. Using a law enforcement database, the GTTF detective located the home address of the victims. The defendants surveilled the house, agreed to impersonate the police when conducting the home invasion, and were given tactical gear by the Detective. The GTTF detective remained outside in the vehicle so that he could intercept any police officers who responded to the home invasion by telling them he was a BPD officer. Finnegan and Rahim entered the residence and robbed the victims at gunpoint of the $20,000.
REARRAIGNMENTS
The following four Baltimore City Police, who were previously indicted, have rearraignments scheduled for the following dates:
Detective Momodu Bondeva Kenton Gondo, age 34, of Owings Mills, Maryland – October 12, 2017;
Detective Evodio Calles Hendrix, age 32, of Randallstown, Maryland – July 21, 2017;
Detective Jemell Lamar Rayam, age 36, of Owings Mills, Maryland – November 9, 2017; and
Detective Maurice Kilpatrick Ward, age 36, of Middle River, Maryland – July 24, 2017.
Defendant Gondo’s rearraignment has been scheduled in the RICO case and a separate drug trafficking conspiracy with non-BPD defendants.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise and Derek E. Hines, who are prosecuting these Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force cases.
Those guys got that all that money hidden somewhere at their homes. Maybe buried on the lawn or concealed in a recent home addition. They wouldn’t put that kind of cash in the bank.
I will reiterate that if ALL this was done on the State’s behalf, it’s called Law Enforcement. When it’s done for personal gain of individuals it’s called “racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, robbery, extortion, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence”. If the US Attorney’s Office wants to charge these men, then the US Attorney’s Office needs to charge the State of Maryland with the same. The State can NOT behave as an organized crime syndicate and a terrorist organization while the US government charges others for following the same path as the State. Especially, when these individuals learned ALL these actions from their job experience with the State. We have to be realistic about what’s been happening in the State of Maryland for decades and it’s NOT pretty. End the war on the US Citizens that is disguised as a war on drugs.
Easy buddy. Those guys were just looking to be shielded by the constitution like other dirt bag criminals try to do.
The Constitution was meant to RESTRAIN the government. Without restraint the government has become an Organized Crime Syndicate. When the Law, breaks the Law, to enforce the Law, the Law ceases to be the Law, at all. The restraint was part of a covenant between the people and the government those people created. Now, the government feels as if there is no Constitution, except the powers and authorities granted to them by the people. Since the people no longer have ALL the rights and privileges guaranteed by that covenant, one has to wonder why the people should believe the government STILL has the power and authority granted to that government by the people? Is it because of a gun and badge that will shoot me dead? The government can NOT exist without the people and when that government violates the rights of one, it has violated the rights of us ALL. Don’t give me that can’t be shielded by the Constitution garbage, because that is exactly what the Constitution is supposed to do. However, this is NOT what I’m talking about in my earlier comment. I was talking about the actions of individuals that seem to be exactly what the government would have them do on it’s behalf. If they can’t do it, neither can the State of Maryland. So why is it happening?
The laws of Maryland have been clesrly described and explained for all citizens even the opportunist. Anyone police or weed dealer who knowingly commits a crime in hopes of the constitution will shield them is a dirt ball. End of story. You knew what you were doing was against the law and you still attempted to interpret the law the way you saw fit. You are a loser. And of story.
No, any member of Law Enforcement who breaks the “Supreme Law of the Land”, is the loser and the dirt ball. As is ANY member of the Maryland Judiciary who allows this to occur. The laws of Maryland are in violation of the US Constitution, the Maryland Constitution and established Federal Law. I may be a dirt ball, white trash and even a loser, but I guess that’s what got me FREE health insurance. How much you paying for yours? I am also never allowed to work again due to being declared “incompetent and untrustworthy”. Look’s like the State is going to get all kinds of tax out of me, doesn’t it. It’s not my fault you have been socially conditioned to believe that the State can legally act as an Organized Crime Syndicate and a Terrorist Organization. I just hope one day you can see how wrong our government has become……
I’ve had about enough of you SoulCrusher. When you broke the law you didn’t do it unwittingly. You were fully aware that what you were doing was illegal. After that you had some problem with signing something or other… maybe you had an incompetent lawyer or maybe since is sounds like something a self righteous, pompous know-it-all would do, you represented yourself. I don’t know and I don’t care. Then you crow about how you’re getting free health care and I guess living on the dole – paid for by the rest of us simply because you’re a criminal. Since that’s not enough, you constantly harp on about the government – the same one feeding you – and expect sympathy from the rest of us. I think that if we have to pay for your feed and vet bills you should be in prison. Where you belong. So, do us all a favor and piss off. At least they got the “incompetent and untrustworthy” part right.
Way to tell it like it is Soulass. You hit it right on the head. The SoulCrusher feels the system is flawed because it did not facilitate his self serving needs. He took an Alford plea because he knew the State had enough to do him. He picks and chooses the laws which he feels do not apply to him. Can you say sociopath?
@ “Hey Soulass” – The Harford County Narcotics Task Force broke the law. End of discussion on that. The conviction was illegal and unconstitutional. Yes, I hope you have to cover ALL my bills because of the illegal actions of the State. If you think you can do something about what I have to say, then come try and do it.
@ “Way to go” – The conviction via Alford Plea was an act of extortion by your county’s State’s Extortion Office. If not for the agreed return of $17,488.16, which even included interest accrued by your county’s illegal possession of my money, the deal would have never happened. There was also threats uttered to me regarding my “safety”, if I didn’t take the deal. This was ALL delivered to me by my incompetent lawyer, Edward Thomas Maxwell Jr., who was acting as an agent of the State. The conviction is fraudulent, illegal and unconstitutional. That’s the bottom line, because I said so…..
Do you believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Buddy, and the Tooth Fairy? What is it like to get HBO, Cinemax, and the Home and Garden channel without even being hooked up to cable? You are delusional. If you felt there was corruption on the county or state level you could have referred the matter to attorney’s ethics board or the United States AG Office. Let me put this as succinctly as possible. Stop whining and trying to jerk us off!
Oh, I didn’t bring up my illegal conviction, you did. I was speaking on the topic of this article. I find it amazing that you interjected my past into the discussion and then say I’m whining when I give my take on the whole thing. You brought it up and I gave my opinion of the topic you brought up. As far as referring the matter to some other agency, why would anyone refer the actions of one organized crime syndicate to another organized crime syndicate? You really need to stop taking whatever drugs your on because your talking straight out of your posterior.
Soul Crusher for president! Oh n stiffs like “way to blow” should dry up n wipe their own shitty ass. You self rightious dickheads should just shut up, sit back n suck on your banana cream stick. I wish I could deny jerks like you medication n help. Sounds like you don’t need anymore, your so intelligent n well informed.