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Member Of Baltimore's Safe Streets Program, 2 Others Charged In Federal Drug Distribution Case

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A member of Baltimore's Safe Streets program and two others are facing federal charges for distributing heroin.

Fifty-year-old Ronald Alexander, 51-year-old Mark Brinkley and 51-year-old Thomas Corey Crosby were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

Alexander pleaded guilty in 2001 in U.S. District Court in Maryland for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin. He was sentenced to 240 months of incarceration and released around May 2018.

Law enforcement had obtained permission for a wiretap -- intercepting calls to and from cell phones used by Alexander from May through July 23, 2020.

During the course of the investigation, the DEA also got permission to install and maintain a GPS tracking device on a 2019 Dodge Caravan that was registered to Alexander. Investigators learned Alexander operated a "drug shop" near Spaulding Avenue and Palmer Avenue in Baltimore. They also learned Crosby supplied Alexander with narcotics, who dispersed them to Brinkley and others.

Detectives intercepted Alexander conducting narcotics-related business on several occasions. On June 19, 2020, Alexander told another person one of his co-conspirators was getting too high from drugs lately.

"I said, be realistic man, you went from selling two to three thousand dollars' worth of dope to only selling damn near three, four hundred dollars' worth of dope a day…" Alexander allegedly said, "You're only selling that much because you keep running around, you sitting there noddin', you'll selling dope like you you'll sell coke, waiting for people to come to you instead of getting out promotin."

Investigators continued to monitor Alexander in conversations with Crosby and Brinkley about drug dealing. Alexander was also heard saying he had two guns, one which he kept at home. With his previous felony conviction, he was prohibited from having guns.

On July 23, DEA executed a search warrant on Brinkley's residence in Baltimore. There, they found another adult and two children inside the home. Inside a safe in the bedroom, investigators found a grocery bag with fentanyl weighing approximately 117 grams, a bag with cocaine weighing approximately 271 grams, and a latex glove containing heroin, weighing approximately 128 grams.

Then on Aug. 9, police were watching Alexander when he received a call from Crosby to meet up. Law enforcement watched their interaction at a BP gas station in Baltimore and followed Alexander after he left, stopping him around 9:12 p.m. During the traffic stop, they search his vehicle and found a bag that contained a white powdery substance in the center console believed to be heroin

Alexander allegedly told officers he had taken the drugs from a member of the community as a part of his work with Safe Streets. DEA investigators seized the suspected heroin, but did not arrest Alexander in order to not interfere with the larger investigation. Investigators weighed the suspected heroin and it weighed approximately 101 grams.

The documents were unsealed on Aug. 12 and the trio made their initial court appearances on Monday. The criminal complaint was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

Detention hearings have been scheduled for Crosby on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 at 11:30 a.m., and Alexander on Friday, August 21, 2020 at 9:30 a.m.

If convicted, Alexander, Crosby, and Brinkley face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the drug conspiracy.

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