Defendant ID’ed By Informants Agrees to 10-Year Plea for Frederick Avenue Shooting

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A 26-year-old Baltimore man will serve the next decade behind bars in accordance with a plea agreement for shooting another man on Frederick Avenue in January 2020.

During Clarence Temple’s plea hearing on Nov. 14, the prosecutor informed Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles H. Dorsey III that two confidential informants identified the defendant as the suspect last November—nearly three years after the incident on Jan. 15, 2020.

The defendant was accused of shooting the victim in the leg on the 4000 block of Frederick Avenue around 9:15 p.m. The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) recovered video footage of the shooting and asked for the public’s help to identify the suspect.

On Tuesday, Temple and his defense counsel, Natalie Finegar, agreed to the prosecution’s plea offer of 25 years, suspending all but 10 years, and three years of supervised probation for first-degree assault and a concurrent 10 years, the first five years without parole, for firearm use in a felony or violent crime. The defendant, who is currently serving more than two years for unrelated charges, is also required to register as a gun offender when released.

The maximum sentence for each charge is 20 years as well as the mandatory first five years without parole for firearm use in a felony or violent crime.

Temple apologized to the court and his grandmother, who attended hearing, for his actions. During his incarceration, the defendant said, he has had time to think about his actions and is currently pursuing his GED.

In addition to the aforementioned charges, Temple was initially facing attempted first and second-degree murder, second-degree assault, having a handgun on his person, having a loaded handgun on his person and discharging firearms.