Department of Justice

Baltimore, Maryland – Malik Evans, age 25, of Baltimore City, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity.   

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Acting Special Agent in Charge L.C. Cheeks, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, from April 2019 to August 2019, Evans and co-defendant Karon Foster age 27, of Baltimore, Maryland were members of an enterprise that engaged in a pattern of deadly racketeering activity, including a series of armed carjackings, armed robberies, attempted armed robberies, and the pawning of stolen goods.

Specifically, between April 19, 2019, and August 8, 2019, Evans participated in four of thirteen carjackings committed by the enterprise.  In all four of the carjackings in which Evans participated, members of the enterprise brandished firearms.  Other co-conspirators, not including Evans, participated in an armed carjackings in which one victim was shot and killed.  Two other victims were killed during street robberies; another victim was paralyzed as a result of an armed street robbery.

Members of the conspiracy not only promoted their activities on social media, but they also shared the proceeds of their exploits.  Members also concealed enterprise activities by hiding, destroying, or disposing of evidence.

On December 20, 2021, co-defendant Karon Foster was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity, a carjacking conspiracy, and for aiding and abetting a carjacking resulting in death.

Evans and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Evan will be sentenced to 17 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher has scheduled sentencing for May 31, 2022 at 10 a.m.  

This case was made possible by investigative leads generated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).  NIBIN is the only national network that allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence to aid in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms.  NIBIN is a proven investigative and intelligence tool that can link firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles.  For more information on NIBIN, visit https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-integrated-ballistic-information-….

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  PSN, an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime, is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia C. McLane and Brandon Moore who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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