JUST ONE YEAR LATER THE CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE GIVES SAM ELLIS A FREE PASS FOR KILLING HIS BUDDIES IN HELL-RIDE
ROCKVILLE, MD. — With a guilty plea on the table and a pre-sentence investigation completed, a Montgomery County Circuit County Judge didn’t throw the book at Sam Ellis, he let him off with just serving four years in prison and a suspended sentence on top of that of sixteen years. Ellis will have to “live with what he did in killing his pals. He will live with it while he is on travel overseas, off to the beach with his friends, when he plays golf or watches football on TV. And since this is liberal Montgomery County where the prosecutors had all of Ellis’s friends trying to lie for him and to protect him, even under threat of Grand Jury subpoenas; his lenient sentence could be further water-downed if the Judge decides to “reconsider” the sentence and let him out of jail with an ankle monitor.
ROCKVILLE, MD. — Samuel Joseph Ellis has been indicted by a Montgomery County Circuit Court Grand Jury on seven counts of negligent manslaughter, negligent homicide and causing life-threatening injury for killing two of his high-school friends in a DUI crash in North Potomac last June.
Ellis faces Judge John W. Debelius III on Nov. 20, 2015, for a scheduling hearing. A video bench warrant hearing was held on Nov. 6, 2015, at 1:30 pm before Judge Cynthia Callahan. Ellis, of 14609 Snapdragon Circle in North Potomac, Md.,
Ellis also faces a criminal hearing on Nov. 18, 2015, in Ocean City from charges brought by Ocean City Police Officer R. Flanagan for being involved in a fight on June 2, 2015. A civil citation for possession of alcohol under the legal age on March 15, 2015, was dropped by Montgomery County States Attorney John McCarthy on June 9, 2015.
Kenneth Saltzman, a parent who was at the party on 14600 Boat House Way in North Potomac, and whom hosted the teen party, was charged on Oct. 28, 2015, with furnishing alcohol to a minor. He faces trial in District Court for Montgomery County on Dec. 10, 2015.
Montgomery County States Attorney McCarthy dumped the alcohol charge
ROCKVILLE, MD. — The driver who the police say killed two of his passengers while on a high-speed booze cruise after a teenage drinking party was busy racking up a record of alcohol and fighting in two Maryland counties in recent months.
While Samuel Joseph Ellis, of 14609 Snapdragon Circle in North Potomac Maryland rests up in his hospital bed from injuries which were apparently self-inflicted by his reported speeding into the grounds of a home after a teen drinking party; an examination of his court record shows a civil citation for underage possession of alcohol was served on him by Montgomery County Police Officer N. Culler on March 15, 2015.
The incident of underage alcohol was just three months prior to the fatal crash in which police say he killed two of his school chums. Dead are Alexander Murk and Calvin Jaixing Li, both recent graduates of Wooten High School.
On June 9, 2015, the Montgomery County States Attorney John McCarthy dropped the citation, which carried no criminal record but did have a fine payable of $100. The court record doesn’t show any public service assessed in lieu of the fine.
On June 2, 2015, the party boy Sam Ellis was reveling in Ocean City, Maryland along with thousands of other newly graduated high school students when he was arrested by Ocean City Police Officer R. Flanagan. The criminal charge which is pending in Worcester County District Court for a hearing on July 9, 2015, is for the criminal charge of “affray”, which means participating in a fight among several persons, often associated with a riot or rumble.
Arrested at the same time as Ellis was one of the teens who died in the crash, Calvin Jaixing Li, of 2326 McCormack Rd. in Rockville, Md. The pair were charged by Ocean City Police in a June 2, 2015, 2:27 am incident which took place at 6007 Coastal Highway.
Court records show that Rockville attorney Brian Clark represented Li and has filed an order with the Worcester County District Court on June 29th for abatement of the charge due to Li’s death.
Montgomery County lawyer and former Delegate Robin Ficker made this comment on a Washington Post article about the double fatal teen crash:
“Just this past week in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Vincent Olalo was sentenced to 3 years in jail by Judge Mason because his drunk driving accident contributed to the death of a man who already had very serious health problems. Let’s see if States Attorney McCarthy administers justice evenhandedly.”
NORTH POTOMAC, Md. Sept. 22, 2015 – (WUSA9) — The family of one of two 18-year-old Wootton High School graduates killed in a car crash after a party released a statement Monday expressing shock about the news a parent was present for the party, and a desire to make sure the laws change.
The statement by David and Pamela Murk comes days after a WUSA9 report into the investigation into the crash that killed their son Alex Murk and fellow Wootton graduate Calvin Li on June 25. The two were killed after the car they were traveling in flew into a fence, hit a tree and landed in a yard.
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The report on the fatal accident
According to documents obtained by WUSA9, the driver of the car, Sam Ellis, was traveling at least more than 30 miles above the speed limit and has a blood alcohol content of .09 two hours after the crash.
“Needless to say, this has been a lot — almost too much — for us to absorb. The details into what happened that night re-opens fresh wounds and our family is absolutely devastated,” David and Pamela Murk said in the statement.
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Sources: Parent was at party that led to fatal N. Potomac crash
The two also expressed disgust at the circumstances at the party, specifically the knowledge that a parent was present at the party. According to sources, Kenneth Saltzman knew about the party his daughter was hosting, and at one point jokingly asked a partygoer if one of the 30-packs of beer they brought was for him.
Salzman is expected to be charged with adult responsibility, but the Murks believe punishment associated with that charge is too little.
“What is even more shocking is the fact that under Maryland law, an first offense for behavior such as Mr. Saltzman’s carries no jail time, but merely a maximum fine of $2500,” the Murks said in the statement. “$2500 for something that results in the death of two young men.”
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Read the full statement from David and Pamela Murk.
The two also call for a change to the laws, specifically the potential punishments that can be held against drivers.
“Slaps on the wrist, or short jail sentences, will NOT deter other teenagers from acting as grossly irresponsible as Sam Ellis did that night,” the Murks said in the statement.
“It goes without saying, we were extremely disappointed that so many family and friends of Alex and Calvin within our community who had knowledge of what took place that evening, were unwilling to come forward without subpoenas and a Grand Jury proceeding,” the Murks said in the statement.