AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC at 410-209-4885

January 5, 2007

PIONEER BOYS GANG MEMBER SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR COCAINE TRAFFICKING AND FIREARMS CHARGES

Shot an Anne Arundel Police Officer

BALTIMORE, Maryland - Calvin Ignatius Savoy, age 29, of Severn, Maryland was sentenced to life in prison today for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and use of a firearm in relation to a drug-trafficking crime, including the shooting of an Anne Arundel County police officer, announced United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. The life sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davis on the cocaine distribution conspiracy charge was mandated by Savoy’s three previous narcotics convictions. Judge Davis also sentenced Savoy to 10 years in prison, consecutive to the drug conspiracy prison term, for discharging a firearm in connection with the shooting of the Anne Arundel County police officer. While recognizing that the defendant's prior record statutorily mandated the life sentence plus ten years, Judge Davis said that he had "little doubt that a life sentence in this case is appropriate. The cold blooded shooting of an officer in front of scores of witnesses with total disregard of anything... reflects a depravity this community cannot tolerate, ever."

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein stated, "Although he is only 29 years old, Calvin Savoy will spend the rest of his life in federal prison for distributing crack cocaine. This case should serve as a warning to anyone else who considers dealing drugs in Maryland."

According to testimony given at the eight day trial in October 2006, from 2002 until September 2005, Savoy and his co-conspirators, who called themselves the Pioneer Boys, used residences on Arwell Court, Pioneer Drive and other locations to package and store cocaine and crack cocaine for street sales in a community known as “Pioneer City” in Severn, Maryland. Drug dealing operations also took place in Still Meadows and Meade Village. Gang members “tagged” or marked walls, streets and mailboxes to warn citizens not to cooperate with law enforcement. They also used violence against competing drug traffickers in open view of the community to deter citizens from cooperating with police.

Trial testimony also showed that Savoy, a Pioneer City crack dealer, shot Anne Arundel County police officer William Hicks once in the arm in the 1600 block of Annapolis Road in Odenton on September 11, 2004. Officer Hicks has since returned to full duty.

Savoy’s co-defendants and fellow Pioneer Boys gang members: Lowell Joseph Braswell, age 22, of LaPlata; Tony Maurice Horne, Jr., age 25, of Glen Burnie; Laronte Lee Richardson, age 20, of Baltimore; Troemaine Herbert Storey, age 27, of Glen Burnie; Paul Eugene Turner, Jr., age 31, of Severn; and Jerome Otto Waters, Jr., age 26, of Annapolis, all pleaded guilty to cocaine and crack cocaine conspiracy charges.

United States Attorney Rosenstein praised the investigative work of a federal task force, which included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Anne Arundel County Police Department and the Annapolis Police Department. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Andrea L. Smith and Anne Arundel County Assistant State’s Attorney M. Virginia Miles, who prosecuted the case.