FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
SEPTEMBER 17, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOODS GANG MEMBER EXILED TO FIVE YEARS IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE FOR USE OF A FIREARM IN DRUG TRAFFICKING
Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Michael Bunch, age 20, of Baltimore, today to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release after Bunch pleaded guilty to use of a firearm in a drug trafficking crime, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
“We will continue to work with our partners to put armed criminals in prison, where they belong,” said U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein.
Gregory Gant, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Baltimore Division, stated “ATF and our partners continue to show the citizens of Baltimore that gang violence has no place in our communities, and will not be tolerated.
“This conviction and sentence is an example of the seamless prosecution of a high-ranking and violent gang member in the Oliver neighborhood of East Baltimore,” said State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy. “A former 2-Star General in the now defunct ‘L - Bloods sect’, has been exiled because of the intensive and coordinated efforts of local and federal prosecutors.”
According to his guilty plea, on January 16, 2007, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Bunch’s residence in the 2300 block of East Oliver Street in Baltimore. Michael Bunch and other family members were in the home at the time of the search. Michael Bunch, a member of a street gang affiliated with the Bloods, indicated that he stayed in the basement. A search of the basement recovered 54 capsules of heroin packaged for street level distribution and a Smith and Wesson (“S&W”) .357 revolver, hidden in the ceiling. The possession of that firearm was in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, specifically, possession with the intent to distribute heroin.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office and Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Wilson, Baltimore City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney James T. Wallner, who prosecuted the case.