A bill that would have increased fines and penalties for gang members in the state of Maryland was killed in the House Judiciary Committee last week. In 1970, the Racketeer Influence and Corruption of Organizations Act was put in place to combat mafia groups. The law was later expanded to disrupt everything from corrupt police departments to motorcycle gangs.
33 states including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have implemented similar state laws. However, Maryland is not one of those states. Current laws only allow individual members to be investigated opposed to the larger upscale organizations. The bill would have allowed law enforcement to focus on the distributors rather than low to mid-level dealers and users.
Under current laws, there are numerous violations that warrant fines and possible imprisonment if one is found to be involved with criminal gangs. For example, a person may not threaten another individual with physical violence to leave or join a criminal gang. An individual who is found to be trying to coerce or solicit another individual to join or leave a gang may potentially be guilty of misdemeanor with maximum punishment being up to two years of imprisonment and/or a $1,000 fine.
A gang member who tries to persuade another individual to join a gang or won’t allow them to leave a criminal gang with physical violence in a school zone faces much harsher penalties. Under Criminal Gang Activity (Schools), a gang member may be guilty of a misdemeanor is subject to four years of imprisonment and/or a $4,000 fine.
Individuals who knowingly engage in gang activity and willingly commit crimes are guilty of a felony with prison time of up to 10 years and a $100,000 fine. Penalties carry a much longer sentence if a gang member uses weapons and people are injured as a result of the gang activity. The death of a victim carries the longest possible prison sentence starting at 20 years.
House bill 461 would have increased all possible prison sentences and fines. Violators of Criminal Gang Activity (Schools) would have faced a maximum fine of $20,000 opposed to the current $4,000 fine. Individuals who chose to engage in gang activity would have been punished with a fine of $10,000, ten times that of the current $1,000 fine. Gang activity that results in one’s death would have seen the penalty raised to a minimum 25 year prison sentence. With the prison sentence, violators may also be fined an outrageous $5 million. Gang members would have not been allowed to receive proceeds from gang activity or invest $10,000 or more into property or other establishments. A gang member who chooses to violate the new laws would have had their property and other enterprises taken away due to the means they were obtained.
One delegate in favor of the bill explained that “legislation was recommended to amend the Maryland gang statute to aid in the prosecution of and provide civil penalties for drug trafficking as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise”. Delegate Brian Deleonardo was also in favor of House Bill 461. Deleonardo said the bill “gives law enforcement additional and really necessary rules to dismantle a criminal enterprise”.
Steven Crowell asked that the bill waited to be voted on until he could have gang experts explain exact how gangs in Maryland have been operating. Crowell said he will have the three gang experts explain gangs and distribution the committee at the next meeting on April 25th.
House bill 461 would have had a significant impact on the Frederick Police Department. After speaking with Chief Edward Hargis a few weeks back, he made it clear that gangs were one of the Frederick City Police Department’s top priorities. In Maryland every year since 2011, there has been an increase of almost 100 deaths relating to heroin use. Hargis explained that with the rapid rise of the heroin epidemic has caused an influx of gangs and gang activity.