BALTIMORE, MARYLAND (BNO NEWS) – A Maryland man pleaded guilty Friday to producing child pornography, prosecutors said Friday.

Russell Glenn Burnett, age 44, of Fruitland, Maryland, inappropriately touched several children who were interviewed during an April 2009 Fruitland Police Department investigation of sexual assaults against several minors in Fruitland. In addition, police learned that Burnett had photographs of some of the children in unclothed or partially unclothed states.

A search warrant was obtained and when police arrived at Burnett’s residence, Burnett was upstairs disassembling one of his computers. The police seized several computers and peripheral devices, storage media, and associated items. Forensic reviews of the material revealed, among other images of child pornography, a video recording made in June 2005 of one of the neighborhood minor females known to Burnett.

Burnett had enticed her to come into his house and to his third floor computer room to produce pornographic images of her. In the video, the girl is seen undressing and the camera focuses on her genital region, and Burnett is clearly visible in this video clip. Furthermore, in some of the still images found on the computer media seized, Burnett is seen touching the girl’s inner thigh and body.

As part of his plea agreement, Burnett is required to forfeit all items seized from his residence, as well as his interest in the residence. He faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, followed by supervised release up to life on his scheduled sentencing of July 7.

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BALTIMORE, MAYRLAND (BNO NEWS) – A Maryland drug lord, leader of a multi-state, multimillion dollar cocaine distribution organization was convicted, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Maurice Phillips, 38, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, leader of the Phillips Cocaine Organization (PCO), which was a multi-state, multimillion dollar cocaine distribution organization that distributed cocaine throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, was convicted of hiring his cousin to kill an employee who was cooperating with a federal investigation.

The PCO was trafficking large quantities of cocaine from Texas to the eastern seaboard via tractor-trailer and other vehicles from 1998 through 2007. Phillips employed Chineta Glanville to help the organization launder its drug proceeds, but in 2002, he learned that Glanville was cooperating with a federal investigation into his organization and he hired his cousin, Bryant Phillips, charged elsewhere, to kill Glanville.

Bryant Phillips went to Glanville’s Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania home where he shot and killed her and her godson, Dane King, and the PCO continued to distribute cocaine.

Phillips was convicted of all eight counts related to his drug trafficking organization, including laundering and the murder-for-hire of a federal witness. His two co-conspirators, David Garcia and Sherman Kemp, were each convicted of the single count against them of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum of ten years up to life imprisonment.

A penalty hearing, to determine whether Phillips should be sentenced to death, will begin Monday, April 19.

Prior to trial, eight other individuals pleaded guilty.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — A Maryland MetroAccess driver was arrested and charged on Thursday with sexually assaulting a customer in January, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) said on Friday. A second sexual assault in Washington, D.C. is also being investigated.

Jose Del Castillo, 55, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was taken into custody by the Metro Transit Police Department on Thursday after investigating a report of a sexual assault involving a MetroAccess customer on January 28 in Prince George’s County. Castillo was charged with third degree sex offense and second degree assault.

The driver was employed with Challenger Transportation, a subcontractor of MV Transportation, the contractor that provides MetroAccess service. Castillo was hired on May 5, 2009 after a background check revealed that he had no previous felony convictions or misdemeanors of a violent or sexual nature, per MV Transportation policy. Following the reported assault, Castillo was suspended without pay on January 30, 2010 and terminated on April 8.

“Metro Transit Police take these reports very seriously, conduct a thorough investigation and take the appropriate action, as evidenced by the charges that we filed,” said Jeff Delinski, Deputy Chief of the Metro Transit Police Department. “We do everything we can to protect Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess riders.”

The Metro Transit Police Department is also investigating a second sexual assault involving a different MetroAccess driver. The alleged assault took place on January 3 at Sixth Street and Brentwood, NE in Washington, D.C. WMATA said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. has declined to prosecute the case as of Friday. The 31-year-old driver, whose identity was not released, was hired on September 24, 2009 and was fired last Sunday.

MetroAccess has about 1,500 drivers and 27,000 registered customers. The service for people with disabilities who are unable, as a result of their disability, to use fixed-route transportation such as Metrobus and Metrorail provides about 7,700 trips on an average weekday. The MetroAccess fleet is made up of 599 vehicles.

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SMITHSBURG, MARYLAND (BNO NEWS) — A Maryland State Police trooper found a missing toddler near his Smithsburg home on Wednesday morning, police said.

Maryland State Police troopers responded to 17371 Kretsinger Road in Smithsburg after a 3-year-old boy was reported missing. He had been missing for approximately 45 minutes when troopers arrived on the scene.

The child was spotted by Trooper First Class J.R. Bowers as he was searching the area on foot along with Trooper First Class William Talbert. The boy was found along a stream by the bridge on Kretsinger Road.

Bowers returned the boy, who had not been injured while he was missing, to his parents.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Smithsbrug Police Department assisted the Maryland State Police in their search.

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BALTIMORE, MARYLAND (BNO NEWS) — The Archdiocese of Baltimore announced on Thursday they will close 12 elementary and middle schools and one high school in June 30, 2010, because rising operating costs and the recent economic downturn.

Archbishop Edwin O’Brien said that declining school populations is another big factor.

The Archdiocese has identified 32 Catholic elementary schools with the cumulative capacity to receive all students from consolidated elementary schools at an average distance of fewer than three miles.

There are currently 82 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore serving over 31,000 students.

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GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND (BNO NEWS) — A small plane with at least six seats crashed at a Gaithersburg, Maryland airport on Monday, law enforcement sources said.

The plane crashed short of runway 32 at Montgomery County Airpark around 5.30 p.m. local time. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board, or if there were any casualties.

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BALTIMORE (BNO NEWS) — Former U.S. Secretary of State and former White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig was hospitalized at a Baltimore hospital in late January, a hospital spokeswoman said on Friday.

“I can confirm that [Alexander Haig] is a patient at our hospital,” a spokeswoman for Johns Hopkins Hospital said. She refused to comment on his condition, the reason he was hospitalized, or if he was expected to stay for a long period of time.

Haig has been hospitalized at Johns Hopkins since January 28, but the news was not announced until Friday.

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ELKTON, MARYLAND (BNO NEWS) — The Cecil County, Maryland Sheriff’s Office on early Saturday cancelled an Amber Alert that was issued after a young girl was abducted in Elkton on Friday, officials said.

Four-year-old Hannah Lynn Harrigan was last seen wearing a pink coat, blue jeans, and a black “Hello Kitty” long sleeve shirt before she was abducted on Friday. Harrigan, who is described as a white female, 3′, 42 pounds, was safely recovered hours later.

“The child is considered to be in extreme danger and the suspect should not be approached,” the initial Amber Alert said. Elkton is a town in Cecil County, about 20 miles southwest of Wilmington.

Police have named 32-year-old Peter Jyles Pelletier as a suspect in the case, although it was not immediately known if he knew the victim. Pelletier, a white male, 5′ 8″ and 160 pounds, was taken into custody after Harrigan was recovered.

Anyone who has information in relation to the case is urged to call the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office at 410-996-5511.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — A U.S. service member who died in southern Afghanistan last week was identified as a Marine from Maryland on Tuesday.

The Marine Forces Reserve said 22-year-old Lance Corporal Jeremy M. Kane of Towson, Maryland died from injuries sustained from combat action in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province on January 23. Although neither the Marine Forces Reserve nor the U.S. Department of Defense provided details on the incident, the NATO-led ISAF alliance earlier said the service member died from wounds sustained in an improvised explosive device (IED) strike.

Kane was a Select Marine Corps Reservist assigned to the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan.

Kane, whose personal awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medical, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, joined the Marine Corps on May 24, 2007.

4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion is a Marine Forces Reserve unit headquartered in Camp Pendleton, Calif. Kane served with the battalion’s Company B in Frederick, Md. He was on his first deployment to Afghanistan.

Kane had already been identified as being killed in Afghanistan in U.S. media reports on Monday. His school also released a statement on his death.

“It is with great sorrow that I report the tragic loss of a member of our campus community,” said Rugers-Camden Dean Margaret Marsh. “This is an extraordinarily difficult time for Jeremy’s family and friends. We share their sadness and extend our sincerest condolences. I encourage you to keep them in your thoughts.”

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HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND (BNO NEWS) — Police on Christmas Day briefly closed parts of the Interstate 70 due to ice covered roadways. The closure lasted about an hour.

The Maryland State Police, with the assistance of the Washington County Sheriff’s Offce, closed all westbound lanes of Interstate 70 at 2mm around 9 a.m. local time.

The lanes were closed as state police investigated numerous vehicle crashes on Interstate 70 and Interstate 68 westbound. The State Highway Administration is treating the roadways.

All lanes of Interstate I-70 were reopened around 10 a.m.

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