Federal prosecutors punctuated their conspiracy and drug trafficking case against two Baltimore City police detectives by describing the officers as predators who enriched themselves by extorting drugs and cash from addicts and low-level dealers in West Baltimore. But the attorney for one of the defendants, in a phone conversation with the AFRO, portrayed both officers as honest veterans who were merely using "unwritten" police department methods in their quest to rid Baltimore's streets of illegal drugs.  William A. King and Antonio L. Murray, both on the force since 1992, were arrested and indicted last May on charges that include conspiracy to possess and distribute narcotics, possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a violent crime and drug trafficking and robbery, and extortion. Based on wiretaps accumulated during an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office, prosecutors accuse King and Murray of conspiring with Antonio Mosby, a police informant, to shake down drug dealers for narcotics and money between August 2004 and May 2005.
The indictment alleges that Mosby, who accepted a plea deal and testified against the officers, acted as a lookout, identifying dealers and the locations of drug stashes. The officers are also accused of using Mosby to resell confiscated heroin and crack cocaine, with all three sharing the profits. [more]