5 more plead guilty in case linked to shooting of girl, 3
Five more Baltimore men have pleaded guilty to federal drug and racketeering charges in a case that alleged numerous acts of violence, including the 2014 shooting death of 3-year-old McKenzie Elliott. The five men are admitted members and associates of the Old York Money Gang, or OYMG, which operated out of the Waverly area, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Davonte “Chopper” Rich, 25, and Jason Snowden, 22, pleaded guilty to participating in a racketeering conspiracy in connection with gang membership. Emmanuel Rose, 27, Keith Wilson, 25, and Calvin “Monster” Watson, 27, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute between 280 and 840 grams of crack cocaine. The man accused of shooting Elliott is not among those who submitted guilty pleas. According to Rich’s plea agreement, OYMG members regularly carried guns to defend the gang’s territory and violently expelled OYMG rivals and antagonists. From July 30 to Aug. 1, 2014, Rich and other OYMG members attacked three people who entered the gang’s territory, and one person was stabbed. Two days later, the three victims returned to the same OYMG drug shop, at which point an OYMG member fired multiple gunshots at a vehicle carrying the victims. One person was shot in the head, and a stray bullet struck and killed Elliott, who was playing on her porch. Terrell Plummer, 28, was charged with use of a firearm resulting in her death. U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III has scheduled sentencing for Watson for Dec. 19. He faces a sentence of 90 months in federal prison if the court accepts the plea. Four remaining defendants, including Plummer, are scheduled to go on trial Nov. 5. Attorneys for Rose, Rich, Snowden and Watson could not immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon. Julie M. Reamy, an attorney representing Wilson, declined to comment.
Ex-Howard officer admits falsifying overtime records
A former Howard County police officer pleaded guilty Monday to falsifying overtime documents to qualify for payouts he did not earn, according to a department news release. Clate Moton-Jackson, a 14-year police veteran, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count and agreed to pay $15,000 in restitution and to step down from his position as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, according to Howard County police. Internal affairs officials began looking at the 41-year-old Frederick County resident in July 2017, after questions were raised about whether he had given false information to the agency. At the time, Moton-Jackson was working at an off-site location as a computer crimes investigator in the digital forensics unit. Investigators found in video footage and key access records that Moton-Jackson had claimed on multiple dates to be working, but had never entered the building, police said.
Baltimore man found guilty of assaulting girl, 5
A Baltimore man was found guilty this month of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl whom a relative of his was baby-sitting, the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office said Monday. The girl, now 9, testified in court that Jorge Fuentes, 54, would take her into a basement and inappropriately touch her, according to the state’s attorney’s office. She said Fuentes would “hurt her” whenever she was with the baby sitter and told her not to tell her parent, according to the release. Fuentes is facing 25 years in jail and is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 27, the release states. A public defender representing Fuentes could not immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
MdTA to waive late fees over E-ZPass outage
Drivers who use the E-ZPass lane still must pay their tolls, but the Maryland Transportation Authority will not issue late penalties to those unable to pay them between last Friday and this Wednesday because of an ongoing outage to the program’s website and phones. Notices of tolls due are mailed to drivers who use the lanes without an E-ZPass device. Late fees, in addition to the cost of the toll, are added after 30 days. The MdTA will not forgive the cost of the toll — just any late fee arising from not paying it by Wednesday. “Just because you don’t have the ability to pay, we’re obviously not going to give you a civil penalty,” said Kerry Brandt, an MdTA spokeswoman. “The toll is not forgiven.” The program’s contractor blamed “a series of network/communications changes” for the technical outage, which began intermittently on Friday, Brandt said. The E-ZPass Maryland call center resumed normal operations by Monday afternoon, although the agency warned of long wait times “due to high call volumes.” The E-ZPass Maryland website and the system’s Interactive Voice Response system (1-888-321-6824) remain down.
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