By Ken Rossignol
THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY
LEONARDTOWN, MD. (Sept. 2, 2014) — St. Mary’s Sheriff’s deputies have placed fresh charges of burglary against a pair of local miscreants who both have long records of arrests and equally long records of dropped charges by St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz.
Police report that on June 28, 2014, Sheriff’s Office patrol units responded to a private residence on St. Jerome’s Neck Rd. in Dameron, Maryland, for the report of a burglary. Deputies determined unknown culprit(s) forced entry to the victim’s residence by breaking a window and stole various property belonging to the victim.
The Criminal Investigations Division was contacted and assumed the case.Following an investigation by detectives, suspects were identified and arrested. Natasha M. Kelly, age 28, of Great Mills, Md. and Steven L. Thomas, age 44, of Lexington Park, Md. were both charged with 1st Degree Burglary and Theft $10,000 to under $100,000. Thomas was incarcerated in the St. Mary’s County Detention Center under $5,000 bond.
Kelly was incarcerated under a $25,000 bond. Thomas later posted bond and was released pending an appearance in District Court on Sept. 16, 2014 at 12:45 pm. Kelly remains incarcerated.
Natasha Maureen Kelly – highlights of her criminal career
- Charges against Natasha Kelly by St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Deputy Shane Cameron for possession of drugs in the jail on April 14, 2014 were dropped by St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz on June 19, 2014. She was represented by Public Defender provided for her courtesy of the taxpayers of Maryland.
- Charged with possession of drugs on Feb. 19, 2007, Kelly was given a plea deal on
- Charged with being a prostitute by St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Capt. Steven Hall on March 24, 2007, Kelly faced trial in St. Mary’s District Court. Two counts of being a hooker and two drug charges were all dropped by St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz on April 5, 2007. Joining in the charges against Kelly were Deputy Vyvan Walker and State Police Detective M. S. Newman. Working this magic for Kelly was Public Defender Luke Woods, with his fee paid for by the taxpayers.
- On April 12, 2007, Kelly was charged in St. Mary’s District Court with possession of narcotics and removing the label from prescription drugs. In court on June 21, 2007, a plea deal approved by St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz ended with a guilty plea to possession of drugs and a sentence of 180 days in jail with credit for time served of 77 days leaving 103 days in jail. Michael D. Figus was the public defender who represented Kelly in this court proceeding.
- Charges of assault on May 5, 2008 against Kelly were dropped by St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz on Aug. 8, 2008. She was represented by Shawn Hrotic, the assistant public defender in Leonardtown, Md., whose services were provided by the taxpayers.
- Charges of possession of drugs were placed against Kelly by St. Mary’s Sheriff’s narcotics detective Philip Joseph on Sept. 13, 2008. Those charges were dropped on April 9, 2009 by St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz. Kelly was represented by criminal defense attorney Kevin J. McDevitt of Leonardtown.
- Charged with prostitution and possession of drugs on Dec. 5, 2008 by Deputy A. Perkins in St. Mary’s County District Court, a plea deal with St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz, resulted in three drug charges and the prostitution charge being dropped. She was sentenced to four years in prison on July 9, 2009, all of which was immediately suspended, in the deal cut between Fritz and criminal defense attorney Dan Slade. Kelly was placed on probation until July 9, 2011, that given her track record, had little chance of passing without further criminal arrests. No fine was assessed and court costs of $22.50 were ordered to be paid. There is no indication that Kelly was able to barter those costs.
- On Oct. 11, 2004, Kelly was charged with theft by Maryland State Trooper Mark Mclean and on Jan. 7, 2005 she was found guilty in St. Mary’s County District Court and sentenced to jail for sixty days with 52 days suspended and credit for time served of 8 days.
- On Sept 24, 2010, Kelly entered a guilty plea to charges of manufacturing and distribution of drugs. She was sentenced to two years and 71 days in prison. She was given credit for time served of 41 days.
- On Feb. 16, 2011, during a time in which Kelly was supposed to be in jail, she was arrested by Narcotics and Vice Squad Commander Capt. Daniel Alioto with possession of drugs and prostitution. During a plea agreement on Sept. 15, 2011, St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz dropped the drug charges and Kelly entered a plea of guilty to prostitution in St. Mary’s County Circuit Court. Kelly was sentenced to six months in jail.
- For a charge of theft connected with a crime committed on Nov. 20, 2013, Kelly has entered a guilty plea in St. Mary’s County District Court and is to be sentenced on Sept. 25, 2014.
STEVE LOVELL THOMAS – major accomplishments in his criminal career
- Charged with possession of illegal drugs on Dec. 2, 1998, Thomas was given a plea deal by St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz on April 16, 1999 and sentenced to 10 days in jail.
- Charges of possession of illegal drugs placed against Thomas on April 22, 2000, were dropped by St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz on March 1, 2001.
- Indicted by a Grand Jury for manufacturing and distribution of drugs stemming from an incident which took place on July 17, 2001, the criminal case culminated with a plea deal on Jan. 6, 2006. Thomas was sentenced to four years in prison with credit for time served of 44 days. Involved with the investigation were St. Mary’s Deputies Mark Howard, Russell Trow, Philip Joseph, Vyvyan A. Walker, Gerald B. Johnson and Michael W. Butler. By 2008, Thomas was already out of jail and on probation and committed his next crime, triggering a new court hearing to send him back to the slammer to serve the balance of his term.
- On July 20, 2013 Thomas was alleged by St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Deputy Timothy Wesner to have entered into a scheme to steal credit cards of others. On Feb. 27, 2014, four counts of theft were dropped by St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz. Thomas was represented by Assistant Public Defender Makeba Gibbs.
LEONARDTOWN, MD. (Sept. 2, 2014) --- St. Mary’s Sheriff’s deputies have placed fresh charges of burglary against a pair of local miscreants who both have long records of arrests and equally long records of dropped charges by St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz. Police report that on June 28, 2014, Sheriff’s Office patrol units responded to a private residence on St. Jerome's Neck Rd. in Dameron, Maryland, for the report of a burglary. Deputies determined unknown culprit(s) forced entry to the victim’s residence by breaking a window and stole various property belonging to the victim.
