Gun count yields 15-year term
A federal judge yesterday sentenced a Baltimore man to 15 years in prison on a gun-possession charge, according to federal prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Stephen L. Russell, 31, for being a felon in possession of a gun. The judge increased Russell's prison term after finding that his three prior convictions for violent crimes or drug offenses now qualified him as an "armed career criminal."
According to Russell's plea agreement, Baltimore Police officers searched Russell's home April 10 last year and recovered a 9mm pistol. Prosecutors did not release his exact street address.
Matthew Dolan
Caregiver sentenced in abuse of an adult
A judge sentenced a Woodlawn man to 60 days in jail yesterday after finding him guilty of fracturing the jaw of a disabled man who was in his care at a group home in Columbia in 2006.
Howard County Circuit Judge Lenore R. Gelfman also ordered Michael Iniobong Udom, 37, of Cedar Heights Court to anger-management classes and five years of probation. Gelfman found him guilty of second-degree abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver.
Prosecutors said Udom, an illegal immigrant, was attempting to feed a patient at a group home run by the Arc of Howard County for the developmentally disabled, where he was a caregiver.
Assistant State's Attorney Danielle Duclaux said Udom fractured the jaw of an adult resident who has the mental capacity of a 1-year-old, apparently while feeding him.
Udom has said that he was trying to take drywall out of the resident's mouth and repeated in court yesterday that he did not mean to hurt him.
The victim's father, Brian Bruh, said after the court hearing yesterday that his son has a permanently disfigured jaw because of the incident.
Tyeesha Dixon
Cocaine term is 15 1/2 years
A Baltimore man received a prison term of more than 15 1/2 years for cocaine possession with intent to sell the drug, according to federal prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Kirt Lionel Bynum, 42, to 188 months behind bars. The judge increased Bynum's sentence after determining that he is a career offender based on two prior convictions for armed robbery and a drug offense.
Blake ordered Bynum to forfeit $62,946.74 recovered during the investigation.
Matthew Dolan