Anne Arundel drops case against reputed gang co-founder

Murder charges against Perry Roark, a reputed co-founder of the violent Dead Man Inc. gang, were dropped Monday by Anne Arundel County prosecutors, according to a spokeswoman for the State's Attorney's Office.

However, Roark, 42, still faces federal charges.

Last year, Roark was close to completing his prison stint for a lumber store robbery. However, an accusation that Roark killed a prisoner in 1994 at the Maryland House of Correction kept him incarcerated.

In November, Roark was among nearly two dozen alleged members of the gang — which started in Maryland prisons and spread to prisons around the country — who were indicted on federal racketeering charges.

According to an Anne Arundel County prosecutors' spokeswoman, Assistant State's Attorney Michael Dunty told a Circuit Court judge Monday that federal prosecutors would not provide their documents — which would go to the defense during the information-sharing pretrial process in the local case — because of concern for the federal investigation and witness safety.

Andrea.siegel@baltsun.com