One plea agreement reveals new details about the overtime fraud and how it was done, saying: "The practice at the (Gun Trace Task Force) was that if a subset of the GTTF had a gun arrest, all members of the GTTF, regardless of whether they had actually participated in the arrest, would submit individual overtime reports as if they did.
BALTIMORE’S CROOKED COPS / Two pleaded guilty, more indictments and more charges for the alleged crooked cops already facing time in federal slammer
Evodio Hendrix, 32, of Randallstown, and Detective Maurice Ward, 36, of Middle River entered guilty pleas
Prosecutor: Officers Bilked taxpayers for overtime when they weren’t working and in the Dominican Republic on vacation, robbed people during search warrants and traffic stops; even robbed a stripper!
Baltimore, Maryland – Two Baltimore Police detectives who were part of a gun task force have now changed the pleas from not guilty to guilty. Evodio Hendrix, 32, of Randallstown, and Detective Maurice Ward, 36, of Middle River, appeared before a judge separately on July 21, 2017. They are two of seven members of a now-disbanded gun task force accused of robbing people and falsifying overtime, among other charges.
From WBAL: “The two former detectives admit they robbed people during search warrants and traffic stops. They admit overtime fraud and falsifying documents to cover their crimes.
Each nearly doubled their salaries in overtime, much of it for the time when they weren’t working.
One plea agreement reveals new details about the overtime fraud and how it was done, saying: “The practice at the (Gun Trace Task Force) was that if a subset of the GTTF had a gun arrest, all members of the GTTF, regardless of whether they had actually participated in the arrest, would submit individual overtime reports as if they did. On some occasions, this occurred when Detective Ward and his co-defendants were not working at all on the day of the arrest.”
They also lied about regular pay.
In August 2016, they went on vacation to the Dominican Republic, but they failed to request time off for the trip and were paid for regular assignments during the week, despite being out of the country.
The guilty pleas avoid trial and any further revelations about the criminal conduct of the two.
Unanswered to date is how so much overtime fraud got approved in the Police Department. Other cases against members in the gun unit are pending.
Asked whether Hendrix will cooperate against other defendants, Bruner said, “I can’t talk about that right now.”
Hendrix resigned from the force last month and Ward resigned in April.
The sentencing guidelines call for seven to nine years in prison. Sentencing for each will be in February. They remain in custody.”
UPDATE: A federal grand jury on July 6, 2017, returned a superseding indictment charging three previously indicted Baltimore City Police Officers with additional robberies. The superseding indictment charges the defendants with racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, robbery, extortion, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The superseding indictment was unsealed on July 6, 2017, and charges the following defendants:
- Sergeant Wayne Earl Jenkins, age 37, of Middle River, Maryland;
- Detective Daniel Thomas Hersl, age 48, of Joppa, Maryland; and
- Detective Marcus Roosevelt Taylor, age 30, of Glen Burnie, Maryland.
A federal grand jury also returned a separate indictment charging two additional defendants, who are not police officers but were posing as police officers, with robbing two Baltimore City residents and with brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. The indictment alleges that the two named defendants committed the robbery with a Baltimore City police officer. The second indictment was unsealed today and charges the following defendants:
- Thomas Robert Finnegan, age 38, of Easton, Pennsylvania; and
- David Kendall Rahim, age 41, of Baltimore, Maryland.
Defendants Jenkins, Hersl, and Taylor had previously been ordered detained pending trial. Defendants Finnegan and Rahim had their initial appearances in court June 27, 2017.
The superseding indictment and indictment were announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT
The 6-count superseding indictment alleges that Jenkins, Hersl, and Taylor engaged in 13 robberies, extortion and time and attendance fraud. According to the superseding indictment, beginning in 2011, the defendants stole money, property, and narcotics by detaining victims, entering residences, conducting traffic stops, and swearing out false search warrant affidavits.
For example, as charged in the superseding indictment, in spring 2015, Jenkins stole at least 20 pounds of high-quality marijuana and at least $20,000 from two individuals who were conducting a drug sale at Belvedere Towers in Baltimore City. Jenkins falsely told the buyer and seller that he was a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent, to conceal his identity and that he was seizing the money and drugs and would make a decision about whether to charge them later. Jenkins then drove Taylor and a co-defendant to a wooded area off of Northern Parkway and gave them $5,000 each from the stolen money. After the incident, Jenkins went to a strip club in Baltimore County where he robbed a stripper.
Similarly, as charged in the superseding indictment, in summer 2016 Hersl stole money from the car of an arrestee. Hersl drove one of his co-defendants to the parking lot of a local high school, which was near the incident, and gave him a portion of the stolen money. While Hersl and the co-defendant were splitting the stolen money, Jenkins broke into the arrestee’s storage unit and stole 2 kilograms of cocaine.
The superseding indictment alleges that in June 2016 Jenkins believed that a co-defendant owed him money, so Jenkins gave the co-defendant drugs and a firearm that had been seized in a law enforcement operation and told him to sell them. The co-defendant, along with another co-defendant, sold the firearm to a drug dealer.
The superseding indictment also alleges that the defendants committed systemic time and attendance fraud, including claiming overtime when they were at home and on vacation.
According to the superseding indictment, between spring 2011 and October 2016, the defendants allegedly conducted 13 separate robberies, taking over $280,000 in US currency, more than 2 kilograms of cocaine, other narcotics, a 9mm handgun, a $4,000 wristwatch, and other property.
The superseding indictment alleges that the defendants obstructed law enforcement by alerting each other about potential investigations of their criminal conduct and turning off their body cameras to avoid recording encounters with civilians.
ROBBERY INDICTMENT
Thomas Robert Finnegan and David Kendall Rahim were indicted on charges of conspiracy, robbery, and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
On June 27, 2014, police officers with the BPD’s Gun Trace Task Force, executed a search warrant on a store in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Baltimore City. During the search, one of the police officers asked whether there were any large amounts of money in the store. The store owner indicated that she had $20,000 in cash in her pocketbook that she was intending to use to pay off a tax liability. At this point, members of GTTF did not make arrests, nor seize anything from the property. Later that day, a member of the GTTF informed Finnegan and Rahim about the money and they agreed to set up a robbery at the home of the store owner. Using a law enforcement database, the GTTF detective located the home address of the victims. The defendants surveilled the house, agreed to impersonate the police when conducting the home invasion and were given tactical gear by the Detective. The GTTF detective remained outside in the vehicle so that he could intercept any police officers who responded to the home invasion by telling them he was a BPD officer. Finnegan and Rahim entered the residence and robbed the victims at gunpoint of the $20,000.
REARRAIGNMENTS
The following four Baltimore City Police, who were previously indicted, have rearraignments scheduled for the following dates:
- Detective Momodu Bondeva Kenton Gondo, age 34, of Owings Mills, Maryland – October 12, 2017;
- Detective Evodio Calles Hendrix, age 32, of Randallstown, Maryland – July 21, 2017;
- Detective Jemell Lamar Rayam, age 36, of Owings Mills, Maryland – November 9, 2017; and
- Detective Maurice Kilpatrick Ward, age 36, of Middle River, Maryland – July 24, 2017.
- Defendant Gondo’s re-arraignment has been scheduled in the RICO case and a separate drug trafficking conspiracy with non-BPD defendants.