Bgf Leader Tavon White Pleads Guilty To A Racketeering Conspiracy

Baltimore, Maryland - Tavon White, a/k/a Bulldog and Tay, age 36, of Baltimore, Maryland pleaded guilty today to a racketeering conspiracy for running operations of the Black Guerilla Family (BGF) gang inside several correctional facilities.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Secretary Gary D. Maynard of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein.

According to court documents, BGF has been the dominant gang at the Baltimore City Detention Center (BCDC), and in several connected facilities, including the Baltimore Central Booking Intake Center, the Women’s Detention Center, which houses many men, and in the Jail Industries Building.

According to his plea agreement, White has been a member of the BGF since 2000 and was in in pretrial custody at BCDC from 2009 to 2013. He became the lieutenant commander of the BGF at BCDC and then the commander in 2011. Throughout his years at BCDC, White was involved with and often directed the smuggling of contraband into BCDC, including cell phones, tobacco and drugs, through the services of correctional officers (CO’s), who received payments, gifts or a share of the profits. According to the plea agreement, White and his 24 co-defendants, including 13 correctional officers, participated in the smuggling enterprise and White also knew many other CO’s involved in contraband trafficking and sexual relations with inmates. White admitted that he was personally involved in sexual relationships with and impregnated four CO’s. Fellow BGF inmates and co-defendants also directed smuggling and often worked in concert with White. Outside the prison facility, White and his closest BGF allies frequently used other people, including several co-defendants, to obtain contraband, hold it or deliver it to correctional officers for smuggling.

White faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the racketeering conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander scheduled sentencing for February 20, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.

The case arose from the efforts of the Maryland Prison Task Force, a group of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and prosecutors that met regularly for more than two years and generated recommendations to reform prison procedures. The investigation is continuing.

U.S. Attorney Rosenstein recognized the efforts of the other members of the Maryland Prison Task Force, including: Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department; United States Marshal Johnny Hughes; Special Agent in Charge Karl C. Colder of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Field Division; Tom Carr, Director of the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area; and Dave Engel, Executive Director of the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Baltimore Police Department, and Maryland Prison Task Force, for their work in the investigation and Baltimore City Assistant State’s Attorneys Kevin Wilson and Katie O’Hara who prosecuted White’s state case. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Robert R. Harding and Ayn B. Ducao, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.