Member of Baltimore-Area Heroin Organization Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

Organization Used a Home Located Less Than 1,000 Feet from a Baltimore Charter School to Process and Distribute Heroin

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Michael Felton, age 39, of Baltimore, today to 20 in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and for being a felon in possession of a gun. Felton was convicted by a federal jury on April 25, 2012, after a 10day trial.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Maryland-Delaware Division; Assistant Director in Charge James W. McJunkin of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Washington Field Office; Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III; Major Michael Kundrat, Senior Commander of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police; Michael A. Pristoop, Chief of the Annapolis Police Department; Anne Arundel County Police Chief James Teare, Sr.; Colonel Marcus Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Special Agent in Charge Ava Cooper-Davis of the Drug Enforcement Administration-Washington Field Division; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to trial testimony, as part of a long-term investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into a heroin drug trafficking organization, calls intercepted over Christian Gettis’ phone revealed that Gettis distributed significant quantities of heroin in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Law enforcement intercepted conversations between Gettis and Felton during which Felton arranged to purchase heroin from Gettis to resell to his own customers. During the investigation, a search was executed at Felton’s home and law enforcement recovered a loaded .40 caliber handgun

The testimony showed that the conspirators used a home that was less than 1,000 feet from a charter school in Baltimore City to process and distribute heroin. The investigation revealed that the conspirators distributed heroin in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, and a housing project in Annapolis.

The jury found that Felton conspired to distribute between one and three kilograms of heroin.

To date, 27 defendants have pleaded guilty to their participation in the Gettis drug trafficking conspiracy. Judge Motz previously sentenced Christian Devlon Gettis, a/k/a “Cutty Rock,” “C,” and “Chris,” age 39, of Baltimore, the leader of a heroin distribution organization, to 16 years in prison and sentenced co-defendant and heroin supplier Charles C. Guy, a/k/a “Captain,” “Beloved,” “B,” “Billy,” “Billy Guy,” “Gary Peterson,” and “Damon Lamont Hackett,” age 43, of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, to 17 years in prison after both pleaded guilty.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised FBI agents in Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington, D.C.; the Baltimore Police Department; MdTA Police; the Annapolis Police Department; the Anne Arundel County Police Department; the Maryland State Police; FBI agents in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; the DEA; and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the searches and the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Ayn B. Ducao and Christopher J. Romano, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

Founder of Violent “Dead Man Incorporated” Gang Pleads Guilty to Federal Racketeering, Murder and Drug Charges

Defendant Set for Release from State Prison Instead Will Serve Life in Federal Prison

BALTIMORE, MD—Perry Roark, a/k/a Rock, “Pops,” “Slim,” “Saho the Ghost,” age 42, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to participating in a violent racketeering enterprise known as the Dead Man Incorporated (DMI). Roark also admitted that he has been the “Supreme Commander” of DMI since it was originally created as a prison gang in Maryland in 2000.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Acting Special Agent in Charge Marino Vidoli of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Baltimore Field Division; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III; Anne Arundel County Police Chief James Teare, Sr.; Secretary Gary D. Maynard of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein; and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee.

“Perry Roark was scheduled to be released from state prison, but instead he will spend the rest of his life in federal prison for leading the violent Dead Man Incorporated gang and arranging murders,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Federal racketeering prosecutions serve a critical role in the coordinated local, state and federal law enforcement strategy to reduce violent crime in Maryland.”

According to Roark’s plea agreement, DMI was created originally in 2000 as a prison gang in Maryland, and at its inception was closely allied to the Black Guerilla Family (BGF), another prison gang. By 2006, DMI expanded its membership by recruiting members outside prison, including women.

DMI members operated in and out of prisons throughout Maryland, as well as Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Texas. DMI is active in numerous prison facilities in Maryland. Units operating outside the prisons are identified by the region they cover, such as Brooklyn, South Baltimore, Southwest Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, Dundalk, Westminster, Glen Burnie, etc.

Roark admitted that he conspired to conduct the affairs of DMI through a pattern of criminal activity from 2000 to the present, including: murder and threats to commit murder, armed robbery, drug trafficking and extortion. DMI members and associates smuggled drugs, tobacco, cell phones and other contraband into prisons, by concealing them on the persons of visitors to the prisons.

Gang members used contraband cell phones in prisons to coordinate the smuggling of contraband into prisons, disseminate information about arrests and releases of members and associates, to warn of investigations, to publicize the identities of persons believed to be cooperating with law enforcement, and to order assaults and murders of such persons, as well as enemies of DMI.

Specifically, Roark admitted that from November 2008 through June 2, 2009, he ordered and planned the June 2, 2009, murder of Tony Geiger, which was carried out by his co-defendants. Roark admitted that he ordered three other murders, which were never carried out, as well as numerous assaults. Roark was frequently involved in drug trafficking within the prisons where he was housed from 2000 to the present.

As part of his plea agreement, Roark and the government have agreed that, if the court accepts the plea, Roar will be sentenced to life in prison. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for Roark on September 26, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.

Mr. Rosenstein praised the FBI, ATF, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; Baltimore County Police Department; Anne Arundel County Police Department; Baltimore City Police Department; the Maryland State Police; Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office; Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office; and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office for their assistance in this investigation and prosecution.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Robert R. Harding and Christopher J. Romano, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

Member of Two Heroin Organizations That Operated in the Baltimore Area Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Kenya Salik Montgomery, age 40, of Baltimore, to 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin. Montgomery previously pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin from two separate indictments.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Maryland-Delaware Division; Assistant Director in Charge James W. McJunkin of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Washington Field Office; Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld, III; Major Michael Kundrat, Senior Commander of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police; Michael A. Pristoop, Chief of the Annapolis Police Department; Anne Arundel County Police Chief James Teare, Sr.; Colonel Marcus Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Special Agent in Charge Ava Cooper-Davis of the Drug Enforcement Administration-Washington Field Division; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to her guilty plea, as part of a long term investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into a heroin drug trafficking organization, calls intercepted over Christian Gettis’ phone revealed that the Gettis distributed significant quantities of heroin to others in Baltimore metropolitan area. Kenya Salik Montgomery purchased heroin from Gettis and resold the heroin to her own customers. The drug trafficking organization also used a location that was less than 1,000 feet from a charter school in Baltimore City to process and distribute heroin. The investigation revealed that the conspirators distributed heroin in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, and a housing project in Annapolis.

According to Montgomery’s plea agreement, on May 11, 2010, Gettis received a call from Montgomery and arranged for Montgomery to pick up heroin from him at a clothing store on North Avenue in Baltimore where Gettis worked. Approximately 30 minutes later, FBI agents saw Montgomery drive into the parking lot and enter the store, leave the store a short time later, and drive away. Officers performed a traffic stop of Montgomery’s vehicle a short time later and recovered a small amount of heroin from Montgomery. On June 22, 2010, Gettis received text messages from Montgomery complaining that she was receiving negative feedback from her customers regarding the quality and consistency of heroin she had purchased from Gettis.

In the second case, Montgomery was also overheard discussing drug transactions with a co-conspirator as part of a separate FBI investigation. For example, according to Montgomery’s plea agreement, on February 18, 2011, the co-conspirator called Montgomery and arranged for Montgomery to sell heroin to another individual, to whom the co-conspirator is overheard speaking in the background. On March 1, 2011, Montgomery called the co-conspirator and told him that her customers were satisfied with the quality of heroin she had sold to them, which she had obtained from the co-conspirator.

In each conspiracy, Montgomery admitted that she conspired with others to distribute between one and three kilograms of heroin.

To date, 27 defendants have pleaded guilty to their participation in the Gettis drug trafficking conspiracy. Judge Motz previously sentenced Christian Devlon Gettis a/k/a “Cutty Rock,” “C,” and “Chris,” age 39, of Baltimore, the leader of a heroin distribution organization, to 16 years in prison and sentenced co-defendant and heroin supplier Charles C. Guy, a/k/a “Captain,” “Beloved,” “B,” “Billy,” “Billy Guy,” “Gary Peterson,” and “Damon Lamont Hackett,” age 43, of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, to 17 years in prison, after both pleaded guilty.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI and FBI agents in Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington, D.C.; the Baltimore Police Department; MdTA Police; the Annapolis Police Department; the Anne Arundel County Police Department; the Maryland State Police; FBI agents in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; the DEA; and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the searches and the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Ayn B. Ducao and Christopher J. Romano, who prosecuted both of these Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force cases.

Baltimore Heroin Distributor Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced William Larry Diggs, Jr., a/k/a “Sweets,” age 44, of Baltimore to 14 years in prison, followed by eight years of supervised release, for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin.

Judge Motz also sentenced co-defendant Darrin William Scott, age 44, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 65 months in prison, followed by eight years of supervised release on the same charge.

The sentences were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Maryland-Delaware Division; Assistant Director in Charge James W. McJunkin of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Washington Field Office; Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld, III; Major Michael Kundrat, Senior Commander of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police; Michael A. Pristoop, Chief of the Annapolis Police Department; Anne Arundel County Police Chief James Teare, Sr.; Colonel Marcus Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Special Agent in Charge Ava Cooper-Davis of the Drug Enforcement Administration-Washington Field Division; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to Diggs’ guilty plea, as part of a long-term investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) into a heroin drug trafficking organization, calls were intercepted over Christian Gettis’ phone which revealed that he distributed significant quantities of heroin to others in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The investigation revealed that William Larry Diggs, Jr. was a Baltimore-based distributor of heroin he obtained from Gettis and Charles C. Guy. Calls intercepted over Gettis’s phones revealed that Diggs purchased heroin from Gettis in order to resell that heroin to his own customers.

For example, on April 13, 2010, officers assigned to a Drug Enforcement Agency Task Force arrested Towanda Capel in the O’Donnell Heights area of Baltimore with approximately 55 gel capsules of heroin. The officers had received information from a confidential informant that Capel was scheduled to meet Diggs to be re-supplied with heroin. The officers observed the transaction between the two and later arrested Capel after Diggs had driven away. The next day, on April 14, 2010, Gettis called Diggs and told him that Guy had called Gettis to complain that Diggs’ heroin sales were too low. Diggs was overheard explaining to Gettis that his competition had better product and went on explain that his best customer and reseller, Capel, was arrested in O’Donnell Heights immediately after being re-supplied by Diggs. Diggs told Gettis that Capel owed him $1,300. Toward the end of the call, Diggs talked about how small the profit was from selling heroin because he was paying a higher price due to his low volume, and as a result has to sell the drugs at a higher price than Gettis.

According to Scott’s plea agreement, on September 28, 2010, after law enforcement intercepted telephone conversations between Scott and Gettis arranging for Gettis to provide Scott with heroin, law enforcement officers observed the exchange. A short time later, officers stopped the vehicle in which Scott was a passenger. Later that day, Scott was overheard complaining to Gettis that Gettis had not given him the full amount of the drugs Scott had paid for and Gettis agreed to provide the difference. Scott also told Gettis about being pulled over by police after meeting with Gettis. Scott told Gettis he had hidden the heroin he had just bought from Gettis in his rectum in order to avoid detection by law enforcement.

The amount of heroin that was reasonably foreseeable to Diggs’s participation in the conspiracy was between 700 grams and one kilogram, and Scott was responsible for the distribution of between 100 and 400 grams of heroin during his participation in the conspiracy.

The drug trafficking organization also used a location that was less than 1,000 feet from a charter school in Baltimore City to process and distribute heroin. The investigation revealed that the conspirators distributed heroin in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, and a housing project in Annapolis.

Judge Motz previously sentenced Christian Devlon Gettis a/k/a “Cutty Rock,” “C,” and “Chris,” age 39, of Baltimore, the leader of a heroin distribution organization, to 16 years in prison and sentenced co-defendant and heroin supplier Charles C. Guy, a/k/a “Captain,” “Beloved,” “B,” “Billy,” “Billy Guy,” “Gary Peterson,” and Damon Lamont Hackett,” age 43, of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, to 17 years in prison after both pleaded guilty.

To date, 27 defendants, including Towanda Capel, age 42, of Baltimore, have pleaded guilty to their participation in the drug trafficking conspiracy. Capel is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29, 2012.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI and FBI agents in Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington, D.C.; the Baltimore Police Department; MdTA Police; the Annapolis Police Department; the Anne Arundel County Police Department; the Maryland State Police; FBI agents in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; the DEA; and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the arrest of Diggss, the searches and the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Ayn B. Ducao and Christopher J. Romano, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

Armed Bank Robber Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

Robbed Two Banks a Total of Five Times in Five Months

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced William Alexander Norbeck, age 32, of Crofton, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for armed bank robbery and the use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. Judge Bredar also ordered Norbeck to pay restitution of $30,500.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Anne Arundel County Police Chief James Teare, Sr.

According to Norbeck’s plea agreement, he had previous experience working at financial institutions. On Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at about 2:00 p.m., Norbeck, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and neoprene mask to conceal his identity, entered the M&T Bank branch located at 510 Solomons Island Road in Prince Frederick, Maryland. Norbeck was carrying a pistol grip, 12-gauge pump action shotgun, which he had recently acquired from a pawn shop in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Upon entering the bank, Norbeck “racked,” or chambered, a shotgun round and ordered everyone to get down. Norbeck then went to one of the teller positions and told the teller he wanted money from the top drawer and bottom vault and no dye packs or bait money. After getting $8,948 from two tellers, Norbeck left the bank through the front door, stating, “Thank you, have a nice day,” (or words to that effect) on the way out. As a result of the robbery, six nearby schools were placed on lock-down as a safety precaution.

On Tuesday, April 5, 2011, Norbeck robbed the same bank, again wearing clothing and a mask to conceal his identity. As he entered, he said, “Okay, girls, same deal as last time: top drawer, bottom vault, I have a scanner, no buttons [silent alarm] like last time,” (or words to that effect). Fearful for their safety and that of others, the tellers gave Norbeck $4,533. As he was watching them gather money, Norbeck said, “Sorry about last time...the schools won’t be locked down this time,” (or words to that effect). As Norbeck was leaving he said, “You ladies have a nice day.”

On June 2, 2011, July 8, 2011, and August 23, 2011, Norbeck robbed the M&T Bank branch located at 3150 Solomons Island Road in Edgewater, Maryland. On each occasion, Norbeck disguised his identity, twice by wearing pantyhose over his face and latex-type gloves, and the last time with a neoprene mask covering part of his face.

During the first robbery, Norbeck approached a teller and said, “I need your money, I don’t want to have to use my gun. Don’t give me alarms or bait,” (or words to that effect). Norbeck took $3,481 and fled the bank. During the second robbery of this bank, Norbeck stole $3,630. During the third robbery, Norbeck again announced that he had a gun and swung his jacket open to reveal a handgun in a holster on his right hip. He stole $9,908 and fled.

Due to the combination of a prompt notification to law enforcement and the inclusion of tracking material in the money he stole, Norbeck was quickly apprehended. When arrested, Norbeck was in possession of his disguise, the money, and a pellet gun that appeared like a 9mm semi-automatic handgun.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and Anne Arundel County Police for their work in this investigation and thanked Assistant United States Attorney Michael Cunningham, who prosecuted the case.