Jailing of officers shakes Baltimore criminal-justice system

BALTIMORE -- They were just seven officers on a police force of more than 3,000, but the Baltimore detectives charged with theft, fraud and conspiracy had an outsized crime-fighting role in a city plagued by violence.

The sweeping federal indictment calls into question every case touched by these men, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the city's already fragile criminal-justice system.

"It's a nightmare," said Natalie Finegar, Baltimore's deputy public defender. "There's going to be hundreds, and we'll sort through every story."

They were members of the Gun Trace Task Force, a unit dedicated to getting illegal guns off the streets, and were involved in hundreds of cases in the past two years. Federal prosecutors said the officers used their position to terrorize the community.

The indictment announced by federal prosecutor Rod Rosenstein describes them threatening the innocent, detaining people on false pretenses, stealing their money, faking police reports, lying to investigators, defrauding their department and flagrantly disregarding reform efforts by turning off their body cameras.

The fallout had begun even before Finegar arrived at her office Thursday morning.

Less than 24 hours after their surrender, a man waiting for her in the lobby said he'd been wrongfully arrested by one of the officers.

Prosecutors said in court Thursday witnesses are "terrified" the officers or their colleagues will retaliate against them, and some of the officers had been "tipped off" to the federal probe investigation by other police officers and an assistant state's attorney.

Assistant federal prosecutor Leo Wise also said one witness the detectives dealt with testified she didn't even realize they were police.

Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby was not informed of the probe until the indictment was announced Wednesday, Rosenstein said. Shortly thereafter, her office issued a statement saying the charges would have "pervasive implications on active investigations and pending cases."

Mosby told reporters Thursday she hadn't heard about a member of her staff communicating with the officers. A spokeswoman for Mosby did not return multiple calls for more detailed comment.

The officers charged with racketeering are detectives Momodu Gondo, Evodio Hendrix, Daniel Hersl, Wayne Jenkins, Jemell Rayam, Marcus Taylor and Maurice Ward. Gondo also is charged with participating in a drug conspiracy.