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Press Release
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Thomas Scott, age 24, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein; and Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts.
According to Scott=s plea agreement, on February 12, 2013, employees of the Baltimore Police Department Citywatch unit were monitoring “blue light” surveillance cameras in the Central District of Baltimore, when they noticed a Ford Expedition making multiple turns and slowly driving up and down the same streets of downtown for at least 30 minutes. Due to a number of recent robberies following the closing of restaurants and nightclubs, uniformed officers in the area were advised to monitor the vehicle for a possible robbery attempt. Officers found the vehicle cruising slowly in the area and attempted to stop it. The vehicle pulled to the curb and as the officers approached the Expedition, the driver quickly pulled away from the curb. The officers pursued the Expedition, which crashed into a tree several blocks away.
As officers approached the vehicle, they saw the Scott getting out of the passenger side of the car in bare feet. Upon seeing the officers, Scott began running down the street. The driver also got out of the car and ran away. Both Scott and the driver were arrested approximately two blocks away. From the vehicle, officers recovered: a machete and the driver’s license of the driver, on the front driver’s side floor; a loaded 12-gauge shotgun with a sawed off barrel, sitting next to a pair of shoes in the front passenger floor area; one air rifle in the back storage area of the vehicle; and a black and white bandana on the floor of the front seat passenger side of the vehicle.
Officers recovered two shotgun shells when they searched Scott that matched the shell found in the shotgun. The sawed-off shotgun was not registered to Scott in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF, Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore City State’s Attorney=s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Debra L. Dwyer, who prosecuted the case.