BALTIMORE _ In the latest development in the Gun Trace Task Force scandal, a retired Baltimore Police sergeant has been indicted on federal civil rights and witness tampering charges related to a 2014 incident in which a BB gun was allegedly planted on a man.
In light of the indictment, the Baltimore Police Department announced Tuesday that three other officers would be suspended and investigated by the Internal Affairs department.
Former Sgt. Keith Gladstone is accused of delivering the fake weapon after Sgt. Wayne Jenkins ran down a man named Demetric Simon with his vehicle. The indictment also says that after Jenkins' indictment in the Gun Trace Task Force face, Gladstone told another officer that if questioned by federal investigators, they should lie and say they were only there for "scene security."
Jenkins, described as the ringleader of the corrupt gun unit, is currently serving 25 years for an array of crimes including drug dealing and robbing citizens for years.
Gladstone, of New Park, Pa., retired in 2012, then returned to the department and retired again just weeks after the Gun Trace Task Force indictments in 2017. On Tuesday federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging Gladstone with federal charges of conspiracy to deprive civil rights, conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, and witness tampering. He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance, according to his attorney, David Irwin.
Irwin said Gladstone was a "decorated veteran" but declined to comment further.
Acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison announced that the Gladstone indictment had prompted the suspension and Internal Affairs investigation of three officers. Another officer referred to in the indictment was already subject to suspension and would be investigated.
"The allegations outlined today in court are beyond disturbing, and speak to a culture that I am here to change," he said. "We are working with our federal partners on this ongoing investigation."
If convicted, Gladstone faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.
"Prosecuting criminals who work in police agencies is essential both to protect our communities and to support the many honorable officers whose reputations they unfairly tarnish," said Robert K. Hur, the U.S. attorney for Maryland. "This is not about policing, it is about criminal conspiracy."
The Baltimore Sun previously reported in the fall that Simon had been interviewed by the FBI in connection with the incident.
Gladstone has been described by current and former officers as a mentor to Jenkins during his early years in the department, and they would continue to work together.
Jenkins admitted in his plea to committing a string of robberies dating back to at least 2011, while also taking drugs off the street and re-selling them with a bail bondsman and splitting the profits.
Since then, federal prosecutors had said their investigation was continuing.
Simon told the Sun last fall that he was driving through Northeast Baltimore on March 26, 2014 when Jenkins and another officer, Benjamin Frieman, suddenly pulled up behind him. He had drugs on him, and got out of the car to flee.
In charging documents filed at the time, Frieman wrote that Simon pointed a gun at the officers, and that Jenkins ran into him with his vehicle. The statement of charges says that Jenkins later found a BB gun under a nearby vehicle. Simon was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Simon told The Sun that he never had a BB gun and that it was planted.
"I never had no BB gun," Simon said. "I never aimed nothing at him. He ran me over because I was getting away."
At the Gun Trace Task Force trial, a cooperating officer testified that Jenkins advised his officers to carry toy guns to plant on people in case they got into a situation where they would need to justify their actions.
The new charges say Gladstone was on duty having dinner with "Officer 1" when he received a call on his cellphone from Jenkins, who was "in a panic because he had just deliberately run over an arrestee."
Federal prosecutors say Gladstone got a BB gun from the trunk of his police vehicle, and drove to the scene with the other unidentified officer.
There, Gladstone "dropped the BB gun near a pickup truck" near where Simon lay injured, prosecutors say. According to the indictment, Jenkins told another officer to move the BB gun closer to Simon.
Simon said he was taken to the federal courthouse on Sept. 19 and asked questions by a prosecutor as "about 30 people" looked on. He is not sure what type of proceeding it was.
"They wanted to know what was up with the other officer, was he aware," Simon said in a phone interview from prison.
Frieman resigned from the Police Department last month. He is not charged with any crimes.
