Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander, sentenced Mukengi Wilson, age 41, of Towson, Maryland, today to 15 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for possessing with intent to distribute crack; being a felon in possession of a firearm; and attempting to tamper with a witness.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Commissioner Anthony W. Batts of the Baltimore Police Department; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby.
According to Wilson’s plea agreement, on October 5, 2013, law enforcement officers saw Wilson engage in several hand-to-hand drug transactions at a narcotics shop operating at the intersection of East Lafayette and North Montford Avenues in Baltimore. In each transaction, Wilson received cash from the customer in exchange for drugs. Two officers wearing vests labeled “POLICE" approached Wilson in a vehicle. When Wilson saw the officers, he attempted to flee. He threw small objects to the ground from his left hand, and reached into his waistband and removed a clear plastic bag and threw it to the ground. The officers arrested Wilson and recovered the items from the ground. The small objects from Wilson’s left hand were two zip lock baggies containing crack cocaine. The clear bag contained nineteen zip lock baggies, each of which contained crack cocaine.
After his arrest, Wilson spoke with officers and informed them that there was a gun in the basement in his girlfriend’s house at 2301 East Lafayette Street. He stated that the residents of the house did not know that the gun was there. Wilson also drew a map showing the location of the gun. Officers went to the house and were given consent to search the house. One of the officers went to the basement and found a 9mm semiautomatic handgun in the location indicated by Wilson in the hand-drawn map. The gun was loaded with one round of ammunition in the chamber and three rounds of ammunition in the magazine. The hammer of the gun was cocked. Wilson had previously been convicted of a felony and was prohibited from possessing a gun or ammunition.
In addition, from the time of Wilson’s federal indictment on Nov. 13, 2013 until a superseding indictment was returned on May 21, 2014, Wilson, who was detained pending trial, made repeated telephone calls to a witness, encouraging the witness to give false testimony in U.S. District Court. The telephone calls were made on recorded, monitored jailhouse telephone systems.
Wilson also admitted that on Sept. 23, 2013, he shot at a man referred to as “Love," after the man sped through the intersection of East Lafayette and North Montford Avenues. Although the vehicle crashed, “Love" was able to drive away.
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 Scott A. Lemmon, who prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
