Pubdate: Wed, 08 May 2002
Source: Dundalk Eagle, The (MD)
Copyright: The Dundalk Eagle 2002
Contact:  http://www.dundalkeagle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1781
Author: Bill Gates
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

FORMER BALTIMORE POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED FOR SELLING ECSTASY

A Graceland Park man who was convicted of selling Ecstasy in December 
received a 22-month sentence last week in U.S. District Court.

John Harold Wilson, 28, of Bethlehem Avenue could have gotten a much 
harsher sentence from U.S District Judge Frederick N. Smalkin but for two 
factors in his favor.

Wilson, a seven-year veteran of the Baltimore City Police Department at the 
time of his arrest, benefited from cooperating with authorities and by 
being arrested in December 2000, months before Congress raised the 
penalties for selling Ecstasy.

"He provided substantial assistance with law enforcement," said a source at 
U.S. District Court who asked to not be identified. "The judge made a 
departure to get him into that range."

Had Wilson not cooperated he could have received a sentence ranging from 46 
to 57 months.

Information provided by Wilson helped convict three Fells Point men of 
federal money-laundering charges, according to court documents.

Wilson was fired last year after a city police trial board determined that 
he had lied to police investigators who checked into a complaint that 
Wilson failed to properly investigate a call.

That came after he was indicted in federal court on Dec. 7, 2000, and 
charged with conspiracy to distribute Ecstasy.

During a raid on Wilson's home on Dec. 6, 2000, federal authorities and 
police allegedly discovered about 30,000 Ecstasy tablets, two rifles, five 
handguns and $7,500 in cash.

The investigation had begun in September 2000, with surveillance of 
Wilson's home and wiretaps on his telephone and cell phone.

The wiretaps caught Wilson discussing the sale of about 15,000 tablets a 
week and planning to make more of the drug, according to court documents 
from his indictment.

Wilson was convicted on Dec. 12 of conspiracy to distribute Ecstasy, 
according to court documents.

Ecstasy is the common name for a type of amphetamine popular among 
teen-agers and college students because it can produce positive feelings, 
empathy for others and extreme relaxation, according to information on the 
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Web site. Ecstasy also is said to 
suppress the need to eat, drink and sleep and must be created in a laboratory.

According to the DEA, Ecstasy can cause nausea, hallucinations, chills, 
sweating, increases in body temperature, tremors, muscle clenching, 
dehydration and blurred vision. Overdoses can be fatal, causing heart 
failure and heat stroke.
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MAP posted-by: Ariel