Baltimore, Maryland - Roger Spears, age 36, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to brandishing a firearm in furtherance of the conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
The guilty plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore Field Office; and Commissioner Darryl DeSousa of the Baltimore Police Department.
According to his plea agreement, on June 21, 2016, Spears carried out an armed home invasion in Anne Arundel County where he encountered one of the victims and pistol-whipped him in the face. Spears then took the victim to the upstairs bedroom where two other victims slept. He held all the victims at gunpoint and demanded their property. Spears stole jewelry, heroin, Xanax (alprazolam), money, and a.40 caliber handgun. According to the plea agreement, Spears sold the heroin that he stole during the robbery and kept the handgun.
On July 25, 2016, at around 9:20 p.m., Spears was engaged in drug trafficking and had hidden a stash of 18 bags of cocaine in a bag on the porch. At around that time, Spears left the location, but left the bag hidden on the porch. He later returned in a minivan as a passenger to retrieve the narcotics. As the minivan drove away from the location, a Baltimore City Police Department patrol vehicle attempted to stop the vehicle. The minivan fled from the patrol car and the Spears threw the bag with the gun and cocaine out of a window. The minivan subsequently crashed into a curb and Spears fled on foot. Spears was arrested by officers a short distance away.
Spears and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement, he will be sentenced to fifteen years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for May 29, 2018 at 2 p.m.
Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the DEA and the Baltimore City Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew DellaBetta, who is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
