Today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, judge Jeanne Cho sentenced defendant, Tyrone Curtis, to life in prison suspend all but 15 years and five years of supervised probation upon release for the murder of 29-year-old Amontae Cunningham. State’s Attorney John McCarthy called the sentence “stunning” and a press release by the office of the state’s attorney referred to the sentence as “disappointing.”

(more…)

Today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, Judge Bibi Berry sentenced defendant, Hummad Siddiqui, 35, of Germantown, to 64 years in prison suspend all but 18 years to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release. He will be required to register as a sex offender.

(more…)

(more…)

In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, before Judge Harry Storm, defendant, Kaleab Berhanu, 21, of Baltimore, has been found guilty of First-Degree Murder, Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder, Home Invasion, Conspiracy to Commit Home Invasion, and use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Crime of Violence for the shooting death of 20-year-old Montgomery County man, Carlos Carter.  The jury returned its verdict yesterday evening, Tuesday, March 19, 2024, after a six-day trial (statement of charges below).

(more…)

Watkins Mill High School students Jabea Ewane, Steven Santiago and Thomas Pettit won the top prize and fan favorite vote for their PSA video contest entry, Forever 16.

(more…)

Per the Office of the Montgomery County State’s Attorney: “In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable Eric Johnson sentenced defendant, Eon Brummell, 27, of Germantown, to 20 years in prison suspend all but 5 years to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release.

On Oct. 30^th, 2023, Brummell pleaded guilty to a Distribution of Narcotics charge that was filed in May of 2023 stemming from an incident in May 2022. He also pleaded guilty to Possession of a Large Amount of Narcotics due to the fact that he had 634 pills containing fentanyl in his possession when he was arrested in June of 2023. Judge Johnson issued his sentence at the time of the plea hearing.

“These pills, made to look like pharmaceutical medication were, in fact, fentanyl. Fentanyl-related deaths are plaguing the nation and we thank all involved in working to remove dangerous, illicit substances from our community. The arrest was the result of a joint investigation with Montgomery County Police Department who participated in the DEA, HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Task Force. We commend the detectives, Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel Kroepsch who handled prosecution, and Judge Johnson who issued an appropriate prison sentence,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy.

Per the Office of the State’s Attorney: “Today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable Cheryl McCally sentenced defendant, Tavon Burton, 21, of Gaithersburg, to 20 years in prison suspend all but 15 years to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release. The State requested Burton be admitted to the Patuxent Youthful Offender program and Judge McCally recommended he be admitted to the program while incarcerated.

Burton pleaded guilty on July 24^th, 2023 to first-degree assault for an incident on October 10^th, 2022 when he fired a gunshot at a 21-year old male from whom he planned to purchase marijuana. The victim told police Burton attempted to hand him counterfeit money and a confrontation ensued. As part of the plea agreement, Burton also pleaded guilty to an unrelated burglary charge from January 2021.”

From the statement of charges: “On October 10, 2022, at approximately 1956 hours, the victim, Christian Olaya, reported to Montgomery County Police that he had just been robbed at gun point in the 10100 block of Watkins Mil Place, Montgomery Village, Montgomery County, Maryland, and that the suspect fired oneround at him. Upon arrival,Olaya advised that he met with a subject by the name of Tavon Marquis Burton in the 10100 block of Watkins Mill Place to sell marijuana (“designer rapper weed”) to him. Burton and Olaya had arranged the meeting on a phone “app” and Olaya advised that he would meet with Burton only if he sent a picture of his driver’s license. Burton sent Olaya a photo of his Maryland Identification Card. Olaya advised that he backed his vehicle into a parking space on Watkins Mill Place and Burton entered the vehicle and sat in the front passenger seat. Olaya was selling 4 ounces of the “designer rapper weed” for $1,600 to Burton. Olaya stated that the designer rapper weed was in the trunk. Burton tried giving Olaya cash, but Oyala realized that it wasn’t real money and that the cash Burton was using was fake. Upon Olaya confronting Burton about the fake money, stating “what’s wrong with you?”
Burton pulled out a small black Glock handgun and pointed it at Olaya stating that he was going to kill him and was going to shoot him. Olaya continued to state that Burton told
him, “don’t act like I won’t blow you up”. Burton hit him with the handgun on the left side of his head. After striking Olaya with the handgun, Burton attempted to take Olaya’s cell phone which he was holding in his hand. After a brief struggle Olaya gained control of his phone, then advised he panicked and put his vehicle in drive and intentionally drove quickly into a parked vehicle on Watkins Mill Place in an attempt to get away.

After the impact, Burton exited the vehicle first and stood outside of the front passenger side of the vehicle pointing the gun at Olaya. Olaya exited his vehicle and began to run away from the vehicle. Olaya heard one gun shot, but was not hit. Olaya continued to run and did not see Burton again. Olaya called the police at that point.

One spent 9mm shell casing was recovered in the grass near the front passenger door of Olaya’s vehicle, where Burton was standing after the crash. Security video in the area caught Olaya running from his vehicle, yelling, and one gunshot could be heard. Olaya stated that this was the only time he had met Burton, but was 100% positive that the subject in his vehicle was Tavon Burton and was the same person on Burton’s Identification Card.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Teresa Casafranca handled prosecution of this matter.

Today, the State’s Attorney’s Office for Montgomery County unveiled a “data dashboard,” a publicly available resource designed to provide the community with access to information about case referrals, outcomes, and performance indicators. The Montgomery County Prosecutorial Dashboard was created by the nonprofit agency, Prosecutorial Performance Indicators.  The Office of the State’s Attorney states that they are pleased to be able to provide a clearer view into the work of our office and how the criminal justice system operates in our community.  This is the result of a two-year grant funded study commissioned by State’s Attorney John McCarthy. It is the first of its kind in the state of Maryland.  

As part of this project, we received the Final Report on Racial Justice in Prosecution in Montgomery County from Brian Johnson, PhD, a professor of Criminology at the University of Maryland in collaboration with Towson University and George Washington University. It is published within the dashboard under the heading “Data Stories.” “Data and transparency lead to greater access to justice. This is a starting place, and we will now be able to monitor trends over time to understand what’s working and where there are opportunities for improvement,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy. A link to the dashboard is now available via the State’s Attorney’s Office website and it will be updated regularly. “We thank State’s Attorney John McCarthy for his leadership and willingness to commit to building a data culture within his office and promoting transparency in prosecution,” said Melba Pearson, Esq., Co-Manager of the PPIs and Director of Prosecution Projects, Florida International University

The Montgomery County dashboard is the result of a collaborative effort between the Prosecutorial Performing Indicators (PPI), the University of Maryland, Bowie State University, Florida International University, Loyola University Chicago, Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative and funding support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies.

The Montgomery County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (DVCC) reminds us that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  The Montgomery County Council will present a proclamation tomorrow morning, October 3^rd, 2023, recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month and throughout the month of October, visitors to the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza will notice a display of several dozen yard signs containing real warning signs for those experiencing domestic violence and information about available resources. We hope these warning signs shine a light on the prevalence of domestic violence, how to help a loved one, and free resources at the Montgomery County Family Justice Center, and  Trauma Services. For digital images of the signs, please visit:  www.tinyurl.com/mocodvam

Need help? If you are in need of assistance or have concerns for a friend or family member, call the Montgomery County Family Justice Center at 240-773-0444, the Montgomery County Crisis Center at 240-777-4000 or email [email protected]. The project is an initiative of the DVCC, whose members include the Montgomery County Office of the Sheriff, Montgomery County Police Department, Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, District Court of Maryland for Montgomery County, Montgomery County Circuit Court, Board of Education, Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, Montgomery County Council, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Montgomery County Commission for Women, and the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation.

Featured photo is from 2022’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month Proclamation

Per the Office of the Montgomery County State’s Attorney: Defendant, Billy Phillips, sentenced today to life plus 65 years for the murder of his former boss, Geoffrey Biddle, inside Biddle’s Bethesda home.

For a period of time, Geoffrey Biddle had trusted the defendant to work for his company, and the defendant abused that trust by using what he learned during his employment to plan his vicious, premeditated attack. According to witnesses, Billy Phillips was fired from his job in April 2021 for fraud and was in financial despair. On June 23rd, 2021, the defendant terrorized Biddle inside Biddle’s own basement and ultimately shot him four times, the final shot being close range to the victim’s head. Phillips had disabled Biddle’s car to prevent him from trying to escape. He also impersonated Biddle via email to excuse Biddle’s absence from work. Hours after the murder, Phillips was cashing forged checks from the victim’s bank account. When he was arrested, the victim’s bank card and checkbook were in his car.

“This case is among the most evil that we have seen. The murder of Geoffrey Biddle was calculated and brutal. The defendant had a history of escalating criminal behavior, and we thank Judge Smith for this sentence which will ensure he no longer poses a threat to the community,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy. Featured photo shows home where murder occurred, courtesy of Google Maps. Photo below shows Billy Phillips and Geoffrey Biddle.