Member of the Violent "Murdaland Mafia Piru" Bloods Gang Pleads Guilty to Racketeering and Drug Conspiracies
Distributed Drugs and Was Present When Another MMP Member Shot a Victim Multiple Times in the Head and Torso Outside a Downtown Baltimore Nightclub
Baltimore, Maryland – Devon Dent, age 28, of Baltimore, Maryland pleaded guilty on February 27, 2019, to racketeering and drug conspiracies related to his participation in the gang activities of the Murdaland Mafia Piru (MMP), a subset of the Bloods gang. As part of his gang activities, Dent admitted that he distributed crack cocaine for the gang and that he was present when a MMP co-defendant attempted to kill a victim outside a Baltimore nightclub, shooting that person multiple times in the head and torso.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Rob Cekada of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Acting Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; Chief Terrence B. Sheridan of the Baltimore County Police Department; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.
According to Dent’s plea agreement and court documents, MMP, also known as the "Mob" or "Mobsters," is a violent subset of the Bloods gang that operates in Maryland and elsewhere. MMP was modeled after the Italian Mafia, and was organized hierarchically, with "the Don" at the top and various "Bosses," "Underbosses," "Capos," "Lieutenants," and "Mobsters" underneath. For many years, MMP has controlled the drug trade in large swaths of Northwest Baltimore City and neighboring Baltimore County, including Forest Park, Windsor Mill, Gwynn Oak, Howard Park, Woodlawn, and Walbrook Junction. The gang’s drug shop in the 5200 block of Windsor Mill Road was particularly lucrative due to its close proximity to Interstate 70, and it frequently attracted drug customers driving from Western Maryland and neighboring states. MMP’s members enriched themselves through drug trafficking and other criminal activities, and using violence and threats of violence to intimidate or retaliate against witnesses, protect the gang’s territories, enforce debts, and eliminate rivals.
Dent admits that he was a member of MMP and participated in the gang’s affairs through a pattern of racketeering activities, including murder, extortion, robbery, witness tampering and retaliation, money laundering, and drug distribution. Specifically, Dent admits that on October 15, 2012, he was present when a co-defendant attempted to murder a victim, shooting him multiple times in the head and torso with a .45 caliber firearm outside Club Mirage in downtown Baltimore. A closed-circuit television camera captured the incident, and showed Dent arriving at Club Mirage with four other MMP members, including one who was wearing a red shirt with the words "MOBB SQUAD" on the back and filmed the victim with a tablet device shortly before the shooting.
On November 4, 2012, Dent possessed with intent to distribute roughly 12 grams of heroin and 21 grams of crack cocaine, as well as MMP paperwork. The paperwork detailed the history and structure of the gang, as well as certain rules of conduct, including that "retaliation is a must," and that "co-operation with authorities that lead[s] to incriminating others" is punishable by death.
On April 15 and April 22, 2015, Dent distributed crack cocaine on Gwynn Oak Avenue to an undercover officer who was wearing an audio-video recording device.
Including Dent, twenty of twenty-six defendants have pleaded guilty in the case. Trial is tentatively scheduled to begin on March 18, 2019 for the remaining defendants.
Dent and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Dent will be sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has not yet scheduled sentencing for Dent.
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. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of its renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
United States Attorney Robert K. Hur praised the ATF, the Baltimore City and Baltimore County Police Departments, and the Baltimore City and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Offices for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Christina Hoffman and Lauren E. Perry, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.
# # #
