Baltimore spending board approves $575K settlement for man stopped by GTTF officers in 2015
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore's spending board on Wednesday approved a $575,000 settlement with a man who claims he was stopped by three members of the corrupt Gun Trace Task Force in 2015 and had a gun planted on him.
The five-member Board of Estimates unanimously approved the settlement with Darnell Earl.
Eight officers in the GTTF unit were convicted of racketeering, armed robbery, selling drugs, falsifying overtime and planting evidence on suspects they arrested.
Baltimore has paid $15.48 million in settlements related to the unit, Deputy City Solicitor Ebony Thompson told the panel.
With the exception of the nearly $8 million paid to Umar Burley and Brent Matthews, two men who were chased by members of the GTTF, leading to a car crash that killed an elderly man, the city has paid out an average of $227,000 per case, Thompson said.
There are four remaining active cases that "pose serious financial risk," Thompson said, and the law department is expecting an additional four claims will be filed.
In Earl's case, officers Marcus Taylor, Evodio Hendrix and Wayne Jenkins initiated a traffic stop on Oct. 18, 2015, and claimed they found a firearm.
Earl, who had previous convictions, was charged with multiple gun offenses and pleaded guilty to one, serving 1 1/2 years in prison, according to a memo on the settlement from the law department.
Taylor, Hendrix and Jenkins pleaded guilty to federal charges including racketeering in 2017, and Earl's conviction from the traffic stop was subsequently vacated.
In 2020, Earl sued the city, alleging there was no probable cause for the traffic stop and the gun was planted in his vehicle, according to the memo.
Thompson told the board all three officers involved in the stop are not eligible to collect a city pension. However, Sgt. Thomas Allers, the officer controlled the corrupt unit beginning in 2013, is receiving one.
Allers in 2017 pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and racketeering offenses, including nine robberies.