Ex Baltimore detective Hankard gets 30 months for role in planting BB gun
BALTIMORE -- Former Baltimore police detective Robert Hankard was sentenced Thursday to two and a half years in federal prison for his role in the planting of a BB gun to help the head of the corrupt Gun Trace Task Force, Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, after he ran over a man.
Hankard, 46, was sentenced to 30 months in prison with followed by three years of supervised release.
He was convicted in April of multiple federal crimes and for providing a BB gun that he knew would be planted on a suspect.
He was additionally convicted of falsely testifying to a federal grand jury about his role in planting the BB gun, falsifying an application for a search warrant, and falsifying an arrest report in a second incident where drugs were planted on a suspect.
The charges against Hankard stem from an incident on March 26, 2014. That is when Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, the leader of Baltimore's disgraced Gun Trace Task Force, called Sgt. Keith Gladstone, saying he had run over an arrestee.
Gladstone testified that Jenkins called him "in a panic... crying" about not having a lawful reason for the chase. Jenkins said he needed a BB gun, Gladstone said.
Gladstone, who was eating dinner with Det. Carmine Vignola at Chicken Rico in Highlandtown, asked Vignola if he had a BB gun.
Since Vignola did not own one, the pair called Hankard and stopped by his home to pick up his BB gun.
Gladstone and Vignola drove to the scene where Jenkins had run over the arrestee, where Gladstone planted the BB gun, and the pair left. The pair later agreed to lie if questioned about the incident.
Gladstone told the court he personally planted the BB gun at the crash scene. He said he later called Jenkins and asked him to "wipe it down" because his DNA and fingerprints were on the weapon.
"It's like a football team. I'm like the quarterback," Gladstone said. "I don't need to tell the wide receiver to do what to do. He knows what to do."
Gladstone was sentenced to nearly two years after pleading guilty to planting the BB gun at the scene. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
Jenkins was sentenced in 2018 to 25 years in prison for his role in the case.
Vignola received an 18-month prison sentence last year after pleading guilty to lying to a grand jury about the circumstances of the incident.
