A Maryland man was recently sentenced to three decades in federal prison after being convicted of various crimes, including racketeering and drug conspiracy. He is reportedly a member of Baltimore’s “Murdaland Mafia Piru” which has a history of violence.
According to court documents, the defendant, a 25-year-old Baltimore resident, tried to kill two people on behalf of MMP on May 30, 2015. Apparently, he used an assault rifle to fire approximately nine rounds at the victims’ car as it was stopped at a traffic light. One of the victims was grazed by a bullet, and both individuals were injured by shattered glass.
At the defendant’s trial, a witness testified that the victims had been targeted because they pulled a gun on a different member of the MMP gang earlier the same day. In addition, a cellphone seized from the defendant in April 2016 had text messages indicating he was involved in drug sales. He was convicted of one count of racketeering, one count of drug conspiracy, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and one count of possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine.
Drug possession with the intent to distribute and other drug charges can lead to serious consequences for people who are convicted. For instance, it’s common for them to be sentenced to years in prison and assessed thousands of dollars in fines. However, a criminal defense attorney could represent a defendant in court and attempt to obtain a more positive outcome on his or her behalf. In some cases, the attorney may be able to get the charges dropped. In others, legal counsel could work to get the charges reduced via a plea bargain.