An Anne Arundel County man received a life prison sentence yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore for dealing drugs and his involvement in the nonfatal shooting of a police officer.
Calvin Ignatius Savoy, 29, of Severn, was sentenced after he was found guilty in October of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and use of a firearm in relation to a drug-trafficking crime.
The life sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davis on the cocaine distribution conspiracy charge was required because of Savoy's three previous narcotics convictions.
According to prosecutors, Davis said he had "little doubt that a life sentence in this case is appropriate. The cold-blooded shooting of an officer in front of scores of witnesses with total disregard of anything ... reflects a depravity this community cannot tolerate, ever."
Testimony during the eight-day trial showed Savoy -- as well as other gang members who called themselves the Pioneer Boys -- used residences on Arwell Court, Pioneer Drive and elsewhere to package and store cocaine for street sales in a community known as "Pioneer City" in Severn.
Savoy, a Pioneer City crack dealer, shot Anne Arundel County police Officer William Hicks once in the arm Sept. 11, 2004, according to trial evidence. The officer has since returned to full duty.
Six other gang members all pleaded guilty to cocaine and crack cocaine conspiracy charges.
Matthew Dolan
Annapolis man charged in crash deaths of two
A 24-year-old Annapolis man was charged Thursday with two counts of negligent auto manslaughter after a head-on collision with a van that left two people dead, police said yesterday.
About 5:30 a.m. Dec. 30, Jason Robert Dehn, of the 500 block of Bellerive Road, and another man were traveling in a 1993 Mercedes on Admiral Drive near the Jennifer Road intersection when the brakes failed, authorities said.
The Mercedes rammed into the van, which was traveling north on Admiral Drive with dialysis patients aboard.
Two people, Mary Agnes Davis, 48, and Terry Wright, Sr., 56, were killed in the crash.
Police believe that Dehn, who had a suspended license, was the driver. He was found hiding near the Jennifer Road Detention Center, police said, and then failed a sobriety breath test. Authorities also said Dehn knew that the vehicle, which belonged to his employer, had faulty brakes.
He was arrested in Baltimore and was being held without bond yesterday at the county jail.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON