Numerous stolen vehicles and burglaries should put Bray away for years; but he has a friend in the prosecutor Fritz
CALLAWAY, MD. – A career criminal and dirt-bag burglar perhaps looking to earn his cred with the prison gangs in the Big House, St. Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron reports that his posse has rounded up a one-man crime wave. Now it will be up to one of the liberal judges of St. Mary’s County, Md., to throw the book at him. Since St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz has arranged many easy deals for this career criminal and serial burglar, the citizenry would be well advised to load up, lock up and light up. Dead burglars don’t take up space in the jail.
Sheriff Cameron reports the following: On June 28, 2015, at 4:40 AM, deputies responded to Abell’s Tavern located at 20281 Piney Point Road for an alarm activation. Deputies found the front glass door shattered and the cash register missing. An undisclosed amount of money was inside the register at the time. A Lottery machine was also damaged during the burglary.
Video surveillance footage depicted a white male suspect inside the business. A white Ford F150 truck was also captured on camera coming and going from the business at the time of the burglary.
On June 29, 2015, the suspect in the video was positively identified as Martin Bray IV, age 40, of no fixed address, but for many years has resided in the House of Corrections or at 19426 Earl Dean Road in Lexington Park, Md., by Sheriff’s Office deputies who had prior contact with Bray. Bray has been arrested more times than Carter has liver pills, which may account for why the deputies immediately recognized him as the no-good scoundrel that he is.
Also on June 28th at 7:24 AM, a victim who resides on Hollywood Road in Leonardtown, reported his white 2009 Ford F150 stolen from the front of his home sometime during the previous night. The victim’s truck was subsequently identified as the one seen on video surveillance footage during the Abell’s Tavern burglary.
On July 12th, the stolen truck was recovered in Dameron, stripped of valuable parts.
On June 29th, Detective Hulse from the Criminal Investigations Division obtained an arrest warrant for Bray. On July 3rd, Bray was apprehended and transported to the St. Mary’s County Detention Center. The warrant was served charging Bray with 2nd Degree Burglary, Theft $10,000 to $100,00, Property Destruction, Unlawful Taking Motor Vehicle, and Theft Under $1,000.
At the time of his arrest, Bray was already wanted by the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office for an earlier vehicle theft and burglary. On June 1, 2015, a victim who resides on St. James Church Road in Lexington Park, reported his 2010 Chevrolet truck stolen. Ten (10) bags of mulch and a leaf blower were in the bed of the truck at the time of the theft. Money was also stolen from inside the cab of the truck. Detectives assumed the investigation and developed Bray as a suspect. Witnesses later identified Bray as operating the truck after it had been stolen, as well as attempting to sell the stolen mulch.
Also on June 1st, a burglary was reported by a victim who resides on Earl Dean Road in Lexington Park. The victim’s garage was entered and a commercial pressure washer was stolen. Bray was identified as a suspect after he sold the stolen pressure washer to a witness. On June 11, 2015, Detective Alexander obtained an arrest warrant for Bray, charging him with Theft $10,000 to $100,00, Rogue and Vagabond, 2nd Degree Burglary, 2 COUNTS Theft Under $1,000. This warrant was served on July 3rd.
Additional charges are pending against Bray regarding the 2009 Ford F150 recovered in Dameron stripped of parts.
Bray’s record highlighted by easy deals from States Attorney Fritz
The following are the highlights of Martin Bray’s criminal record:
Charged with burglary on Aug. 7, 2012, Bray entered into a plea deal with St. Mary’s County States Attorney Richard Fritz. Bray’s guilty plea in exchange for skipping a long and ardorus trial which would have tested the wit and ability of the Public Defender when matched up to the fearless prosecutors resulted in Bray being sentenced to 5 years in prison. The Deal: 3 ½ years suspended leaving only 18 months in the local jail, a far better deal for Bray than going to prison where they keep the Black Guerrilla Family and other evil prison gangs. After Bray was released from jail he was put on ‘unsupervised’ probation for 18 months. Court records then show he was “released for treatment” and given probation for 5 years, perhaps revealing that Bray never served the 18 months in jail. Since this is Maryland where the loopy judges can “reconsider” their stern sentences when the public isn’t looking, just days after handing down a sentence, anything is possible.
St. Mary’s County Circuit Court Judge C. Clarke Raley, known to be a hanging judge at times, sent Bray to the big house on July 9, 2010 for 18 months for a theft conviction, specifically ordering he be sent to the Department of Corrections rather than the country club operated by Sheriff Tim Cameron. Bray had been charged by Deputy James McGuire.
Charged with burglary on a warrant on Jan. 26, 2010 sworn by Dep. McGuire, Bray cooked up another deal with Fritz and the welfare attorney, Public Defender Shawn Hrotic, whose salary is paid for by the taxpayers. In that deal, Bray was sentenced to 3 years in prison with credit given for 31 days of time served.
Charged with multiple counts of firearm possession, theft and assault on Dec. 17, 2009, Bray pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm (as a convicted felon it’s no dice to have a gun). In St. Mary’s District Court on Oct. 4, 2011, Bray was sentenced to 366 days in jail with credit for time served of 25 days. For that case, Bray had two Public Defenders; Ashley Rankin and Hrotic.
Domestic Violence: Bray was ordered to never darken the doorstep of an unidentified victim on August 20, 2009. As a professional burglar, it shouldn’t have been too hard for him to get around this order of the court.
Arrested for theft by St. Mary’s Deputy Michael Boyer on May 5, 2008, Bray entered a guilty plea in District Court on Aug. 14, 2008 and was sentenced to 30 days in jail with credit for already serving 30 days in the Hotel St. Mary’s.
Arrested by Deputy Kristi Nelson for theft and “rogue and vagabond”, (which means he waltzes around scot-free due to the ineffective courts and prosecutors and carries with him the tools of a burglar) on Sept. 20, 2007, Bray entered a guilty plea on Dec. 13, 2007. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, which meant that during that winter he had ‘three hots and a cot’ until spring. That deal was arranged between Fritz and Assistant Public Defender Sean Moran.
Charged with “Escape” which usually means that a prisoner on work release fails to show up at his appointed hour in time for dinner; Bray was sentenced to 158 days in jail on July 31, 2006. Deputy John Kirkner was the arresting officer. For this case, two defense attorneys were on hand; Daniel Ginsburg and William F. Renahan, who once made a colorful reference to a local judge in a courtroom.
Arrested for burglary on March 24, 2003 by Deputy Robert C. Merritt, another plea deal with States Attorney Fritz was cooked up by the Public Defender on July 14, 2003. That deal sent Bray to prison for 5 years. Then he saw 3 ½ years suspended which allowed him to stay in the local jail. Guess what then, folks? Yep, you guessed it: the bozos in the courts and prosecutors office agreed to let this professional burglar get out of jail so he could attend “in-patient substance abuse program”, which undoubtedly the taxpayers paid for instead of having him working in a chain-gang. Public Defender Daun R. Weirs represented Bray on this affray.
When Maryland State Trooper Craig Tyer arrested Bray for stealing a vehicle on Sept. 3, 2002, the case came to court on Feb. 28, 2003. States Attorney Fritz and Public Defender John D. Bailey Jr. got their heads together and came up with this deal: Fritz put the charges on the Stet Docket with no fine and no time.
Undoubtedly intended to puff up a press release by the Sheriff’s Department and Fritz about locking up drug dealers to reassure the public that law enforcement is out to fight the war on drugs, Bray was indicted for drug dealing on May 5, 2000. When the case came to court in St. Mary’s County Circuit Court on Oct. 3, 2005, another deal was struck between the Public Defenders and Fritz. In exchange for a guilty plea, Bray agreed to a sentence of 30 days in jail and likely snitched on a bunch of his pals who were also dealing drugs. A judgement of restitution in the case was ordered in favor of William Winters but court records don’t reveal how Bray pleaded guilty to distribution of drugs and the State of Maryland ordered Bray to pay Winters the sum of $700. The detective in the case was Deputy Phil Joseph.
Charged with assault on Sept. 23, 1999, Bray made a deal with Fritz on Oct. 6, 1999 and had one of two charges dropped and the other assault charge put on the Stet Docket with no fine and no time.
Charged with theft by Deputy Keith Fretwell on Feb. 14, 1997, Bray entered a guilty plea in a deal with St. Mary’s States Attorney Walter B. Dorsey on Oct. 28, 1998 and was sent to jail for 548 days with no time suspended but credit given for 165 days served. Once again, Public Defender John Bailey was the deal maker for Bray.
At least another dozen charges, some of which resulted in convictions exist on Bray’s criminal record. However, there may be scores of other burglaries and thefts this dirtbag committed over the years yet was never caught and charged.