jails and prisons

Andrew Zaragoza, of Bel Air, was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison, with half that sentenced suspended, for the 2017 murder of his mother.

The cousin of a Maryland inmate was arrested in an alleged attempt to smuggle the narcotic suboxone into a Jessup prison Saturday afternoon.

The arrest of an attorney for smuggling suboxone into a state prison for a client shows the need to make the drug more available to inmates.

Police have arrested a Baltimore man for allegedly stabbing a Bel Air resident after a verbal confrontation on a middle school basketball court Sunday.

Hope Gladden, 35, of Salisbury, pleaded guilty to racketeering for her role in a drug smuggling scheme at Eastern Correctional Institution.

The Maryland Board of Public Works approved a $27 million contract to demolish the shuttered Baltimore detention center.

A Maryland jury has awarded nearly $3M to an inmate who was beaten by prison guards almost six years ago in what his attorney called a "systemwide failure."

State correctional services said Wednesday that they are investigating how a loaded gun made its way inside a detainee’s wheelchair and into Baltimore’s jail.

A loaded handgun was found inside the Baltimore jail’s Central Booking and Intake Facility Tuesday afternoon, state correctional service officials said.

Maryland officials are moving forward with a $27.5 million plan to demolish about 35 structures in the closed Baltimore City Detention Center.

Maryland State Police said Sunday that 33-year-old inmate Herbert Mayes was dead where he fell inside the Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland.

A former Baltimore police detective was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison Tuesday, the last officer to be sentenced in the Gun Trace Task Force case.

A jury deliberated about nine hours over two days before declaring Roman Shankaras, 32, not guilty of murder, assault, kidnapping, riot and conspiracy.

A 67-year-old Navy veteran is among several men who served time in Maryland prisons for crimes they did not commit

Towson businessman and alleged fraudster Kevin B. Merrill has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Ex-bishop Heather Cook is released from prison after serving just half of her 7-year sentence in connection with the death of a Baltimore bicyclist.

An inmate being tried for the murder of a correctional officer during a riot at Delaware's maximum-security prison was the "puppet master" of the uprising, a convicted murderer who also participated in the riot told jurors Wednesday.

Heather Cook, the former Episcopal bishop who fatally struck a Baltimore bicyclist with her car while driving drunk two days after Christmas in 2014, will be released from prison next month after serving a little more than half her original sentence.

A former police officer in Philadelphia and Baltimore was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Friday afternoon for helping a member of the Gun Trace Task Force sell drugs taken off the street here.

Logsdon, 34, was sentenced to 15 years with all but one year suspended after he was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor. And that year will not be spent in prison or at the Carroll County Detention Center, but, rather, the court ordered he be released to home detention. No jail time.

Maryland’s prison population has fallen below 18,000 for the first time in nearly three decades, according to a new report from the Vera Institute of Justice. The state's incarceration rate is the lowest it has been since the late 80s — a period that preceded enormous growth in inmates nationwide.

A Baltimore man has been sentenced to more than 30 years in federal prison for providing heroin that resulted in the May 2016 deaths of two West Virginia men.

Authorities say they have indicted nearly 200 people in Maryland — guards and inmates alike — for prison smuggling in recent years. Here are five takeaways from the latest case.

Prison guards and inmates allegedly peddling heroin, cellphones and pornography-loaded flash drives behind bars.

Federal authorities dismantled yet another ring of guards and inmates allegedly peddling heroin, cellphones and pornography-loaded flash drives behind bars.

Six Baltimore men have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and admitted their roles as members of the deadly Hillside Enterprise drug dealing ring, which operated for about 14 years in the Cherry Hill neighborhood.

General Assembly should have taken steps to end solitary confinement in this state but did not.

A Laurel man was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years and one month in federal prison for being involved with multiple pharmacy robberies, including in Howard County and surrounding jurisdictions, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced Wednesday.

A bill that would allow jails to administer methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone to treat the substance abuse disorders of inmates should help curb overdose deaths.

Legislation to establish medication assisted treatment in Maryland jails is a good first step.

Maryland is poised to embark on a pilot program that would bring addiction treatment with opioid replacement medications into state prisons, where their use has been barred for years. Support to alter the policy was buttressed by success the medications have had stemming overdose deaths elsewhere.

New research by Johns Hopkins Medicine could help improve the care of pregnant women in prison.

In the finale of an HBO series examining the murder case against Adnan Syed, state prosecutors offer the famous prisoner a plea deal after nearly 20 years behind bars.

Paul and Melissa Trapani, who were each sentenced to 30 years incarceration last August on counts of child neglect, will have their sentences reviewed by a three-judge panel in the Carroll County Circuit Court.

Federal authorities say a former Baltimore gang member, Shelton Harris, serving a life prison sentence in southern Arizona has died after having a medical emergency.

Maryland State Police are investigating the death of an inmate at an Allegany County prison.

In a sentencing memorandum filed Friday, the prosecutors for the first time linked De Sousa’s prosecution with the wider corruption case, saying they uncovered evidence that city officers shared tips about how to get tax refunds by claiming fraudulent deductions.

Several national trade organizations have made it a priority to hire ex-offenders, a decision that could play a huge role in the rehabilitation of former inmates.

James Johnson, a West Baltimore drug dealer, was sentenced to 24 years in prison for conspiring to distribute enough fentanyl to kill the population of Maryland.

To really end addiction among the prison population, inmates need rehab services while incarcerated.

State health officials sought permission to give temporary Medicaid to those leaving the correctional system so they could get drug treatment, but never tapped the authority.

Maryland State Police are investigating the “suspicious” death of a 27-year-old inmate at an Allegany County state prison.

Kyle Thompson, a Maryland man, was sentenced Wednesday to 420 years in federal prison for a series of sexual assaults on three girls who were 2 to 4 years old when they were targeted for abuse.

A former Maryland correctional officer was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to bribery in a drug conspiracy at Jessup Correctional Institution, the state prosecutor announced Monday.

Authorities say a prison lockdown that lasted several days was caused by an assault on two correctional officers in Maryland.

The fire alarm system at Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Facility is “failing regularly,” causing dangerous conditions, and state officials are moving to replace it. Under an emergency contract, the state Board of Public Works is to consider awarding $63,000 to Koffel Associates Inc.

A 19-year-old inmate has been charged with intentionally setting a fire at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup this week.

A state prison system spokesman says an inmate at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women is expected to be charged with arson. Authorities found a lighter in her cell after a fire broke out, causing three correctional officers to be treated Sunday night for smoke inhalation.

Growing numbers of Republicans are finally on the right side of criminal justice reform, says Cal Thomas.

Reed Cordish, the Baltimore businessman and former White House adviser, played a role behind the scenes building support for a criminal justice bill that passed Congress this week.