BALTIMORE, Md. – A state’s attorney is looking at potentially throwing out 800 criminal cases after the task force that took suspects down was found to have been allegedly planting evidence, selling drugs and more.
Eight officers from the Gun Trace Task Force in Baltimore have been convicted of a slew of felonies and now face anywhere from seven to 25 years in federal prison for their crimes.
Now, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby is looking at every individual case tied to the GTTF task force. And she’s looking at overturning convictions and throwing out as many as 800 criminal cases, MSN reported.
Authorities say that body cam footage was integral in the investigation into the eight Baltimore officers. That same footage was used to convict the officers of some serious charges. All eight were found guilty of racketeering, armed robbery, selling drugs, falsifying overtime and planting evidence on suspects they arrested.
Former detective Jemell Rayam was just one of the eight officers to be convicted of some serious crimes back in May. Rayam was said to have committed 15 robberies over eight years, and prosecutors say he stole $79,000.
“Rayam schemed to steal money, property, and narcotics by detaining victims, entering residences, conducting traffic stops, and swearing out false search warrant affidavits,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said. “In addition, Rayam prepared and submitted false official incident and arrest reports, reports of property seized from arrestees, and charging documents. The false reports concealed the fact that Rayam and his co-conspirators had stolen money, property, and narcotics from individuals.”
The government had recommended the 12-year sentence that former Det. Rayam ultimately received—Rayam’s attorney asked for 3 years. The guidelines called for 15 to 19 years. Rayam sold heroin and other drugs and robbed a woman at gunpoint—among his many crimes. @wjz pic.twitter.com/MxMNJyOeKV
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) May 28, 2019
“It’s never too late to do the right thing,“ Rayam said in court before his sentence was handed down. “How can I ask Your Honor for mercy when I took an oath? I can’t ask for mercy, but I can ask that you see a man who admits what he did. I’m sorry to the city of Baltimore and I’m ready to face my consequences.”
But his confession didn’t do much to save him.
“This case exposed crime and corruption being committed by those sworn to uphold the law and protect citizens,” U.S. Attorney Robert Hur said in a statement. “We will prosecute criminals whether they wear a badge or not.”
Following the convictions of the Baltimore officers back in May, Mosby said a ripple effect would be spreading through the system over everything the officers had touched – especially the convictions they had secured in their time with the task force.
Federal prosecutor said in court today that more than 2000 cases have been impacted by the corrupt BPD Gun Trace Task Force @wjz
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) May 28, 2019
Mosby said that a new piece of legislation is to thank for the ability to dive back in and reinvestigate and potentially overturn those convictions that had been made under false pretenses.
“I applaud Delegate Erek Barron and the hard work of my policy and legislative affairs team for securing legislation which will allow us to finally right nearly 800 cases impacted by the wrongful and illegal acts of the gun trace task force,” Mosby said.
The law was just signed and will go into effect at the beginning of next month.
