Two Baltimore police officers will spend at least the weekend in jail after making their first court appearance yesterday on federal charges that they stole illegal drugs from suspects and sold them on the streets.
U.S. District Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm ordered Officers William A. King and Antonio L. Murray to remain in federal custody until their next court appearance, scheduled for Monday.
Their arrests came after both officers were mentioned as being "in the game" in the Stop Snitching DVD, a locally produced video that glorified the life of the city's drug dealers and threatened potential witnesses against them.
The case continued to attract attention yesterday from political leaders working to help Baltimore overcome its reputation for crime and violence.
"It is unfortunate that two veteran police officers would abuse their powers and violate the very laws they are charged with enforcing," City Council President Sheila Dixon said in a statement. "They betrayed the trust of their fellow officers, and the people they were sworn to protect. It's always very disturbing to learn of incidents of police corruption."
The charges faced by King and Murray also threaten to undermine their credibility as witnesses in criminal trials and could force prosecutors to drop charges against suspects the two arrested, said Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy.
Tom Krehely, head of the police misconduct division of the city state's attorney's office, told prosecutors yesterday in an e-mail that he would compile a list of all of the pending cases in which King and Murray had a role.
The list of their cases apparently includes the May 2004 slayings of three children, although the officers' role in the case might be minor enough not to require their participation in the prosecution, officials said.
In federal court yesterday, King wore handcuffs and a T-shirt as he was escorted by federal marshals into Courtroom 7C, where he sat alone on a bench. He silently mouthed some words to supporters seated behind him.
Grimm said during the hearing that he would select a court-appointed defense attorney to represent King.
Murray arrived next, wearing a shirt from a local restaurant and cargo shorts. He sat next to his attorney, Warren A. Brown, who said in an interview that his client was shocked by his arrest.
"He's gone from being the pursuer to the pursued," Brown said.
King, 35, of Baltimore, and Murray, 34, of Abingdon, each joined the city Police Department in 1992 and had worked in its public housing crime unit since it was formed in December.
Family members, friends and fellow police officers dressed in civilian clothes gathered in the federal courthouse to watch the hearings. All declined to comment about the case.
King and Murray are accused of conspiring to rob and extort cocaine, heroin and marijuana - as well as drug-related proceeds - from suspects they met on city streets.
A third defendant, civilian Antonio Mosby, 39, is charged with serving as their lookout and informant in the drug world.
The indictment alleges that King and Murray became involved with drug activities in August.
According to the indictment, they rounded up drug suspects and held them in cars, then robbed them, threatening them with force, arrest and prosecution. Afterward the two police officers and Mosby split the proceeds from the robberies and sold the drugs they seized for profit, according to the indictment.
Federal prosecutors said yesterday that each defendant could receive a sentence of up to 40 years in prison on the most serious charge, conspiracy to distribute drugs.
U.S. District Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm ordered Officers William A. King and Antonio L. Murray to remain in federal custody until their next court appearance, scheduled for Monday.
Their arrests came after both officers were mentioned as being "in the game" in the Stop Snitching DVD, a locally produced video that glorified the life of the city's drug dealers and threatened potential witnesses against them.
The case continued to attract attention yesterday from political leaders working to help Baltimore overcome its reputation for crime and violence.
"It is unfortunate that two veteran police officers would abuse their powers and violate the very laws they are charged with enforcing," City Council President Sheila Dixon said in a statement. "They betrayed the trust of their fellow officers, and the people they were sworn to protect. It's always very disturbing to learn of incidents of police corruption."
The charges faced by King and Murray also threaten to undermine their credibility as witnesses in criminal trials and could force prosecutors to drop charges against suspects the two arrested, said Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy.
Tom Krehely, head of the police misconduct division of the city state's attorney's office, told prosecutors yesterday in an e-mail that he would compile a list of all of the pending cases in which King and Murray had a role.
The list of their cases apparently includes the May 2004 slayings of three children, although the officers' role in the case might be minor enough not to require their participation in the prosecution, officials said.
In federal court yesterday, King wore handcuffs and a T-shirt as he was escorted by federal marshals into Courtroom 7C, where he sat alone on a bench. He silently mouthed some words to supporters seated behind him.
Grimm said during the hearing that he would select a court-appointed defense attorney to represent King.
Murray arrived next, wearing a shirt from a local restaurant and cargo shorts. He sat next to his attorney, Warren A. Brown, who said in an interview that his client was shocked by his arrest.
"He's gone from being the pursuer to the pursued," Brown said.
King, 35, of Baltimore, and Murray, 34, of Abingdon, each joined the city Police Department in 1992 and had worked in its public housing crime unit since it was formed in December.
Family members, friends and fellow police officers dressed in civilian clothes gathered in the federal courthouse to watch the hearings. All declined to comment about the case.
King and Murray are accused of conspiring to rob and extort cocaine, heroin and marijuana - as well as drug-related proceeds - from suspects they met on city streets.
A third defendant, civilian Antonio Mosby, 39, is charged with serving as their lookout and informant in the drug world.
The indictment alleges that King and Murray became involved with drug activities in August.
According to the indictment, they rounded up drug suspects and held them in cars, then robbed them, threatening them with force, arrest and prosecution. Afterward the two police officers and Mosby split the proceeds from the robberies and sold the drugs they seized for profit, according to the indictment.
Federal prosecutors said yesterday that each defendant could receive a sentence of up to 40 years in prison on the most serious charge, conspiracy to distribute drugs.
