Alleged BGF Ringleader Takes The Stand In Notorious Trial

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Rampant corruption. The historic case against eight defendants---including five correctional officers accused of letting the Black Guerilla Family take over the Baltimore City jail continues Monday.

Rochelle Ritchie has the explosive testimony expected from the gangleader himself, Tavon White.

Tavon White could be considered the star witness in this case. He didn't hold back and named the other official gang members and leaders of BGF and admitted to being the commander of BGF while incarcerated at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

White's testimony came with a plea deal that would grant him a lighter sentence: 12 years, as opposed to the maximum of 20 years he would've gotten in federal prison.

White says he joined the BGF in 1997 at a correctional facility in Hagerstown. In 2009, he was charged with attempted murder. As an inmate at the Baltimore City Detention Center, he took over as lead commander of BGF at the jail.

For four years, FBI investigators say White and other BGF gang members used the jail to construct a lucrative drug operation that poured onto the streets of Baltimore City, using correctional officers and other employees to smuggle cell phones and illegal drugs, including marijuana and prescription pills---all of this behind jail walls.

In court, White says he was unhappy with the operation at the jail and felt that the working BGF members were lazy, saying they should have been focusing on making money and running the jail.

White was at the Baltimore City Detention Center awaiting trial on an attempted murder charge. He has since pleaded guilty to that charge and was sentenced to 20 years in state prison.

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