blackmail and extortion

• News

Fighting MS-13 on two fronts, federal prosecutors from Maryland and El Salvador team up on investigations

With the operational ties between gang members in both countries so strong, it made sense to develop a relationship between prosecutors to fight back.

• Opinion

Witcover: Bezos' gutsy pushback against gossip journalism

Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post and said to be the world's richest man, has accused the gossip-mongering National Enquirer of attempted extortion and revealed details from his own extramarital affair rather than allowing the Enquirer to smear him with them.

• News

2 Iranian hackers charged in ransomware scheme that targeted Maryland's MedStar Health

The Justice Department says two Iranian computer hackers have been charged in connection with multimillion-dollar cybercrime and extortion scheme that targeted

• News

Moving company employees accused of scamming over 900 customers, including dozens in Maryland

The Department of Justice said on Monday that five people had been arrested and accused of scamming more than 900 customers in Maryland and across the United States by moving items onto vehicles and then jacking up their prices. In some cases, they stole customers' items, prosecutors said.

• News

Two dozen alleged MS-13 gang members indicted in federal court

Two dozen members of the MS-13 gang have been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to participate in racketeering related to murders, kidnapping, extortion and money laundering that the gang carried out from 2015 until 2017, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

By Pamela Wood

Jun 30, 2018

• News

Gun Trace Task Force case about 'equal justice for all,' prosecutors say in closing arguments

Closing arguments are scheduled to begin after 11 a.m. in the Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force trial in U.S. District Court.

• Howard County

Columbia man who fled country after arrest is sent to prison for extortion

Columbia landscaper sentenced to prison after trying to extort $200,000 from friend and fleeing country.

• News

Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force officers were 'both cops and robbers' at same time, prosecutors say

The trial of two former members of the Baltimore Police Department's elite Gun Trace Task Force got underway Tuesday with opening statements.

• News

Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force officer plans to argue crimes were theft, not robberies

Sgt. Wayne Jenkins and Detectives Daniel Hersl and Marcus Taylor will appear in U.S. District Court Tuesday afternoon for a motions hearing

• Maryland

Baltimore transportation supervisor Daryl Wade charged in federal extortion case

Federal authorities have charged a supervisor in the Baltimore Department of Transportation over an alleged bribery plot involving construction permits.

By Ian Duncan

Oct 25, 2017

• News

Defense attorneys urge court to open personnel files of indicted Baltimore officers

“Nobody in their right mind cannot say that these internal complaint files would be chock-full of complaints."

By Tim Prudente

Sep 29, 2017

• Baltimore City Paper

Democracy In Crisis: Politics as Crime in the Age of Trump

Donald Trump's pardon of former Maricopa County sheriff and top-notch torturer Joe Arpaio is, in many ways, the quintessential Trumpian act, the tarry,

• News

Baltimore police cite rap feud as motive behind recent murder arrest

Baltimore Police say they believe a rap feud was behind a gun battle that left one dead and four others wounded after charging a 24-year-old associate of the

• Maryland

Alleged Hispanic extortion threat in Havre de Grace 'appears to be isolated,' police say

Havre de Grace Police say they weren't previously aware of an alleged extortion threat involving the city's relatively small Hispanic population, but they have passed along information they received about the threat last week to the proper authorities.

By Erika Butler

Jan 25, 2017

• News

Baltimore man sentenced in extortion case that ended in killing

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Baltimore man to more than 30 years in prison for extorting money from a man who failed to fully repay a debt and was later fatally shot, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

By Jessica Anderson

Nov 30, 2016

• News

24 alleged 'Murdaland Mafia Piru' gang members indicted in Baltimore

Two dozen alleged gang members in Baltimore have been indicted on federal racketeering and other charges after an investigation by local and federal law enforcement agencies determined the gang oversaw a violent drug operation associated with murder, assault, extortion, witness intimidation, money laundering and other crimes, prosecutors said Tuesday.

By Kevin Rector

Sep 27, 2016

• News

Eastern Shore commissioner charged with extortion

A Princess Anne Town Commissioner is charged after Maryland State police said he tried to extort $5,000 from another town commissioner.

By Jessica Anderson

May 10, 2016

• Maryland

Justices uphold extortion conspiracy conviction against former Baltimore police officer

The Supreme Court has upheld the conspiracy conviction of a former Baltimore police officer for his role in a repair shop extortion scheme.

• Maryland

Letter: No 'fog of war' on Benghazi, just moral corruption

• Baltimore City Paper

A House Divided: Residents call for Graziano's dismissal and Housing Authority reform

Facing mounting criticism and calls for the dismissal of its chief Paul Graziano after top officials in the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) were accused of ignoring pleas for help from victims in the Gilmor Homes sex-extortion case, the scandal took some new twists this week.

• Entertainment

'Scandal' finale recap, 'You Can't Take Command'

A recap of the May 14 season finale of "Scandal," as debts are settled, secrets are revealed, a new senator is welcomed an a father gets his comeuppance

• Sun Investigates

Supreme Court to hear case of Baltimore officer convicted in towing scandal

Former Baltimore police officer Samuel Ocasio will have his conspiracy conviction heard by the Supreme Court this year. The court will settle a legal interpretation on how lower courts interpret a conspiracy charge under the Hobbs Act.

By Mark Puente

Mar 7, 2015

• Howard County

Third suspect arrested in Howard door-to-door scam

A third person suspected of participating in a door-to-door solicitation scam in Howard County this summer has been arrested, police said Friday.

• Baltimore City

Baltimore officer fights to regain job after towing scandal

After serving eight months in federal custody for his role in a towing scandal, former Baltimore police officer David Reeping is fighting to get his job back. He contends that investigators used him as scapegoat to avoid accusations of racial profiling from Hispanic and African-American officers convicted in the scandal, according to a complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

• Howard County

Virginia woman arrested in Howard County scam

Howard County police have charged a 21-year-old Virginia woman with running a door-to-door solicitation scam this month.

• Baltimore City

Baltimore officer fights to regain job after towing scandal

• Baltimore City Paper

New Black Guerrilla Family indictment shows inmates in charge of jails, adds to Maryland prison bureaucracy’s embarrassments

• Maryland

Bookkeeper acquitted of embezzlement charges; state proceeding on theft scheme charges

• Maryland

Alleged victim testifies in sex abuse of minor case

• Opinion

Beretta's economic blackmail [Commentary]

Putting aside that most gun owners support sensible gun laws like universal background checks, not even Ugo Beretta could believe that Maryland's laws are about harassment. If he did, his forefathers would have moved a long time ago — out of Italy.

• Baltimore City

Two convicted in abduction-murder plot

• Baltimore City

Two convicted in abduction-murder plot

• News

Baltimore police officer pleads to extortion and ID theft

Ashley Roane, 26, fed information to an FBI source she thought was a drug dealer

• News

Baltimore police officer pleads to extortion and ID theft

• TV

'Scandal' recap, 'More Cattle, Less Bull'

A recap of the Oct. 31 episode of 'Scandal,' as Mellie wants Olivia back in the game

• TV

'Scandal' recap, 'Say Hello to My Little Friend'

A recap of the Oct. 24 episode of 'Scandal,' in which the dangers of sexting are exposed

• Opinion

Legislative extortion constitutional — and still dumb

House may have had the right to hold Obamacare hostage but that doesn't make it any smarter

• Opinion

The over-leveraged GOP

Like investors who sparked the financial crisis, Republicans in Congress have overplayed their position and put the nation at risk.

• Opinion

Boehner confuses extortion with democracy

Extortion is not the same as negotiation and majority can't give into Boehner's demands

• News

Silk Road drug kingpin tried to kill witness, authorities in Maryland say

An undercover federal agent in Maryland played a key role in the shutdown Wednesday of what authorities describe as a massive online drug marketplace, owned by a 29-year-old engineer who authorities say had begun scheming to kill perceived rivals.

• News

'Silk Road' owner tried to arrange witness murder, authorities in Maryland say

An undercover federal agent in Maryland played a key role in the shutdown Wednesday of what authorities describe as a massive online drug marketplace called the Silk Road, whose owner allegedly began scheming to kill perceived rivals.

• Baltimore City

Four men plead guilty in kidnapping scheme seeking money, drugs

Four men pleaded guilty in the kidnapping an 8-year-old boy in order to get money and heroin two years ago, according to the Baltimore State's Attorney's office.

• Baltimore City

Four men plead guilty in kidnapping scheme seeking money, drugs

• Baltimore City Paper

Attorney admits to blackmailing colleagues at the Arc of the Central Chesapeake Region

• TV

'The Newsroom' recap, 'Willie Pete'

This week, there was good comedy, all of the dialogue that you would expect, and each of the main stories were given enough room to breathe.

• Abusive Behavior

Federal agents arrest 255 'child predators' in nationwide operation

Federal agents and local law enforcement agencies in Maryland and across the country have arrested more than 250 men and a handful of women in a month-long operation targeting "child predators" who are part of a "disturbing trend" of adults connecting with children online and then abusing them, federal officials announced Monday.

• Opinion

How do liberals hate NSA intrusion but love Obamacare?

• News

Fears of violence strain blood-stained block

Parents lock their children inside and few residents will talk about the violence that has left three dead in the 900 block of Bennett Place. Police gated the street and assigned an officer there around the clock.

• Kidnapping

Exhibit recalls Hendler kidnapping of 1933

Memories of the1933 Baltimore kidnapping of Albert Hendler, scion of the Hendler Creamery Co. family, have recently been revived in an exhibition of documents relating to the case at the Crime Museum in Washington.

• Arts and Culture

Exhibit recalls Hendler kidnapping of 1933