Gang Member Rejects Plea, Gets Trial Date

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One of two Baltimore City Circuit Court cases involving a murder, attempted kidnapping, and drug trafficking will head to trial in October 2022.

According to WMAR Baltimore, Baltimore Police Department detectives investigated a shooting on May 9, 2019, on the 1800 block of Edmondson Avenue—an area with increasing violence due to drug trafficking. A 10-month investigation also led to seven search and seizure warrants, where officers found guns, over 100 grams of fentanyl, and 68 grams of cocaine.

One of the five suspects involved in both cases, 40-year-old Calvin Sanders, appeared before Judge Melissa M. Phinn in reception court on Monday when the prosecution offered the defendant 14 years for conspiracy to distribute narcotics; life for the first-degree murder of Jasper Thomas; five years without parole for firearm use in a felony violent crime; and 10 years for organizing, supervising, and financing a gang, all to run concurrently.

Sanders is also charged in an attempted kidnapping case, which was not discussed during Monday’s proceedings.

The defendant and his defense attorney, Donald Wright, rejected the plea offer, and a trial was set for Oct. 6, 2022.