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22 Federal Indictments Announced After Massive Gang Bust

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- A major gang bust as dozens of people are named in a federal indictment. They're accused of murders, violent robberies and drug deals around Maryland.

Adam May has more on this massive operation.

Federal officials believe this new indictment puts a major dent in one of the state's most notorious criminal organizations.

They operate in just about every major jail and prison across the state of Maryland. The gang -- Dead Man Incorporated (DMI) -- is considered a major threat to public safety.

"This is a gang that allegedly began here in jails and prisons in Maryland, and now is operating on the streets and it has extended beyond the state," Rod Rosenstein, Maryland U.S. Attorney, said.

Now, the area's top law enforcement officials have announced 22 federal indictments. Charges include four murders, planning four additional murders, armed robbery, drug trafficking and extortion.

"DMI, for many years, has terrorized communities in Maryland," Superintendent Marcus Brown of the Maryland State Police said.

The crimes were mostly carried out in South Baltimore, Northern Anne Arundel County and Eastern Baltimore County.

"DMI has been one of the most active gangs in Baltimore County, and this is a significant series of arrests," Chief James Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department said.

DMI's "Supreme Leader" Perry Roark- also called Saho the Ghost-- allegedly ran the criminal enterprise from behind bars using cell phones smuggled into the prisons.

Roark's alleged accomplices went by nicknames Mom, The Fuehrer, Skinny Pimp and Fat Boy.

"We believe that the key to continuing reducing the violent crime and murder rate in Baltimore City and in the state is to target the gangs and the leaders who are fomenting this violence," Rosenstein said.

Eleven of the defendants were already locked up in prison. Seven were apprehended in a roundup early Wednesday morning and four more are still at large.

If convicted, all the suspects face life in prison.

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