BALTIMORE _ Several Baltimore police officers facing federal racketeering charges allegedly met behind bars in a Maryland detention center to discuss how they could "beat" some of the charges against them, according to federal prosecutors.
One of the officers allegedly described the others as "dirty" after initially being arrested, prosecutors also say, and had been tipped off to the FBI's investigation by someone he identified as a member of the Baltimore Police Department's Internal Affairs division.
The new allegations were made in a recent filing by prosecutors in the case against Detective Marcus Taylor, one of seven city police officers indicted in March.
The filing was made in an attempt to keep Taylor behind bars after his attorneys challenged his detention, asking that he be let out of jail pending trial.
U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar denied Taylor's request, and his attorneys are now appealing that decision to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The filing reflects the complexity of the multi-defendant case, and highlights the fact that what was disclosed by prosecutors in the initial indictments does not encompass all of the evidence collected.
The officers are accused of robbing citizens, filing false court paperwork and making fraudulent overtime claims. They have pleaded not guilty.
The officers' indictments have led local prosecutors to drop criminal charges against dozens of defendants whose cases hinged on the word of the officers. A sweeping review of cases brought by the officers' Gun Trace Task Force over the course of several years is ongoing.
This week, Bredar extended the period of time during which prosecutors and the officers' defense attorneys may exchange discovery in the case and negotiate potential plea deals through January. Trials are tentatively scheduled for next year.
Federal prosecutors declined to comment on the filing in Taylor's case or whether they intended to amend the indictment to reflect the latest allegations.
Mirriam Seddiq, an attorney for Taylor, said prosecutors are using unproven allegations in order to keep her client behind bars pending his trial even though he his not a flight risk or a danger to the community.
"They can say whatever they want," she said. "If they want this guy behind bars, they will find a way to keep him there."
Prosecutors allege that Taylor, Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, and Detectives Evodio Hendrix and Maurice Ward took large amounts of cash from a city resident, including $200,000 from a safe, and then all went back to Taylor's home to divide it among them.
Prosecutors allege Taylor then recorded a "fake re-enactment video" showing the officers opening the safe and finding $100,000 inside _which they submitted as evidence. They allege the officers kept the rest of the cash from the safe.
At the Howard County Detention Center, prosecutors allege Taylor "discussed with his co-defendants that they could beat the ... charges against them if they all maintained that the fabricated video was legitimate, and thereby further concealed the robbery."
Prosecutors did not say how the discussion was uncovered. Attorneys for Jenkins, Hendrix and Ward declined to comment.
Seddiq said she would like to see proof of the prosecutors' allegations. She said she does not know whom among Taylor's co-defendants prosecutors are alleging he spoke with in detention.
Jack Kavanagh, director of the Howard County Department of Corrections, said his agency housed the officers on behalf of the U.S. Marshal Service in a special unit separated from the general jail population.
"We were not asked to separate them and the Marshal Service was aware they were housed together," Kavanagh said.
He said he had "no knowledge of the cited statements and how they were obtained."
Beyond the detention center incident, prosecutors also alleged in the filing in Taylor's case that, since the officers' indictment, more witnesses have come forward to allege additional robberies by their gun unit.
Prosecutors also alleged that, after his arrest, Taylor "cast blame on his co-defendants while denying responsibility for his own criminal conduct."
When Taylor was asked about robberies prosecutors said he participated in, he allegedly said that he tried not to "get involved" but had heard things about his fellow members of the gun unit, "like they steal money and all that." He allegedly said that he had heard stories from "other detectives in other units."
Baltimore Police did not respond to a request for comment on the allegation that an Internal Affairs officer had tipped Taylor off to the FBI's investigation.
Bill Purpura, an attorney for Detective Daniel Hersl, another of the indicted officers, said he is not guilty of robbery or extortion as alleged in the indictment and "anxiously awaits his day in court."
Warren Brown, an attorney for Detective Momodu Gondo, who is also separately charged with drug offenses, said he hadn't heard of the allegations in the prosecution's filing in Taylor's case. He said plea negotiations are common in federal cases, particularly in those that involved multiple defendants.
"We always seize upon the opportunity to engage in negotiations and discussions," he said.
