Man awaiting trial on Baltimore drug conspiracy charges wants out of prison, citing his health amid COVID concerns

An inmate in a Chesapeake Detention facility filed an emergency motion for release amid the national outbreak of the coronavirus, according to federal court records.

Adam Martin, a former Baltimore resident charged with several others in a large-scale drug trafficking conspiracy, said he suffers from asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure and is described by his lawyer as a “poster-child” of someone who could become infected with COVID-19, according to the emergency motion.

Martin is requesting house arrest with electric monitoring at all hours of the day while he would reside with his wife.

The motion cites a decision late Thursday afternoon by Gov. Larry Hogan to immediately stop all family and friend visits to the prison facility as a further threat to Martin’s well being. His attorney, Gary Proctor, said the governor’s action is also hindering his ability to interact with his client, since only non-contact meetings between attorney and client are allowed.

That meant Proctor needed guards to “walk” paperwork to his client, but they refused, the motion claims. He also said the room where he sat with Martin - partitioned by glass - was hot and the phone used to communicate showed no “signs of cleanliness.”

The motion says Martin is not a “flight risk” and, though he has a lengthy criminal record, he has never been charged with any violent crime.

Martin. also know as “Fats” according to the indictment, has been detained since June 25, 2019, when federal prosecutors charged him and several others, calling Martin one of the leaders of the wide-ranging drug conspiracy. The indictment asserts that Martin talked about weapons, described “cooking” especially strong batches of drugs and alleges he advocated beating someone after police took drugs off one of his couriers. Martin was detained on June 25, 2019.

Proctor says he has not heard about a hearing set for the motion from federal court.

All visits to the detention facility have been canceled, per a request from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan who closed off all visits to prisons and jails statewide. The World

Several health experts have said prison and jails nationwide need to work harder to keep facilities clean and free of the virus. Groups including the Sentencing Project based in Washington, D.C. and the Community Oriented Correctional Health Services say prisons have higher risks.

The Human Rights Watch based in New York said facilities should consider supervised release.

The Maryland Department of Corrections said no cases have been reported in the state’s jails and prisons, although a spokesman for the department said he has no information that any inmate has been tested.

There are a total of 17 reported cases in Maryland alone as of Friday, a spokesman for Gov. Larry Hogan said.