A Baltimore Police officer who gave a ghost gun, prescription pain pills and information about a city murder investigation to the president of a Maryland motorcycle club in exchange for cocaine received 30 months in federal prison Friday.
The officer, Steven U. Angelini, pleaded guilty in August to federal drug and gun charges and will receive credit for the two years he’s already served as his case was adjudicated. He also must successfully complete inpatient drug treatment and serve six months on home detention when he is released from prison.
Angelini, who joined the Baltimore Police Department in 2006, is suspended without pay, a departmental spokesperson said.
U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander said the case was an example of how addiction can drive a good person to make terrible choices. Angelini’s choices contributed to a lack of trust in Baltimore police, she said.
“What I have in front of me is a police officer who suffered an addiction and from there traded sensitive information about a murder to get drugs,” Hollander said. “I have a police officer who sold an untraceable firearm to a drug dealer.”
“What you did was dangerous, not just to you,” the judge said.
Angelini apologized during tearful remarks at the sentencing hearing.
“I placed my addiction ahead of my job, my family, my friends and my community,” he said, speaking in a gray detention center jumpsuit. “I violated the trust of the Baltimore Police Department.”
Prosecutors asked for a five-year prison sentence for Angelini. The information he shared about the murder of his onetime drug dealer, identified in court records as “D,” could have contributed to retaliatory violence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Goo said.
“The only way that this information could have been used was for a nefarious purpose,” she said.
Angelini’s lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Sedira Banan, asked for two years of incarceration, a sentence that would have amounted to time served.
The government charged that Angelini, 43, traded the information with the president of the Maryland chapter of the Infamous Ryders Motorcycle Club for cocaine. The club’s leader is identified in court papers as a man named “Keith” and was identified previously by The Baltimore Sun as Keith Dockins.
According to the indictment, Angelini texted Dockins in January 2022 and offered to sell him 90 “pinks,” or oxycodone pills, in exchange for $200 and a “ball,” or an eighth of an ounce of cocaine.
He also texted about the death of “D,” a drug dealer who worked with Dockins as part of his drug organization, according to court records, and repeatedly offered to go to the police department’s homicide division to get information about the investigation into his killing.
In all, Angelini sent nine photographs of his work computer screen, including images of police reports and information that was not available to the public, Goo said. Angelini also repeatedly promised to get Dockins a copy of a video that showed D’s shooting in exchange for cocaine, but never produced the video.
He claimed at one point to have the video on a USB drive, but the drive was empty and Angelini later said he’d made a mistake transferring the file. He also told Dockins he would go to the business where the original video had been recorded and “show them his badge” to obtain a copy, according to the indictment.
Goo said in court Friday that Angelini never tried to get the video.
In April 2022, Angelini texted Dockins apologetically and offered to sell him a ghost gun, or a firearm that is untraceable because it has no serial number, in exchange for $300 and another eighth of an ounce of cocaine. He also offered to provide hollow-point bullets for the weapon.
“Hope u ain’t still mad at me buddy,” Angelini texted, according to the indictment. “I tried everything to get the video. But anyway selling this Ar ghost for a good deal if you interested.”
Angelini assembled the gun himself, designing an AR-15-style rifle that could shoot cheaper 9mm ammunition. He brought the gun to the Coach House, a bar on Belair Road in Baltimore that the Infamous Ryders sold drugs from, investigators wrote in charging documents.
Police who were investigating Dockins at the time intercepted a phone call between Dockins and Angelini about the gun transaction. Angelini met with another person sent by Dockins to carry out the trade, and went into the Coach House with her, according to the indictment.
Later in April 2022, Angelini went to Coach House and gave Dockins 20 oxycodone pills to “make up for what I owe you, bro,” according to a transcript of their calls included in the indictment. The next day, Angelini texted Dockins that he was at a gun shop and would purchase ammunition and other firearm accessories in exchange for an eighth of an ounce of cocaine. He bought more than $500 of merchandise and again went to Coach Bar.
On May 4, 2022, Angelini went to a pain clinic, then traveled to a Walgreens in Middle River to pick up a prescription for 90 oxycodone pills, according to the indictment. He called Dockins to sell him the pills for $170 and $100 worth of cocaine. After visiting Coach House again, Angelini requested $170 from Dockins using Cash App.
Dockins entered Alford plea in January to drug distribution and unlawful possession of a firearm in Baltimore County Circuit Court. He received eight years in prison, according to court records.
In court Friday, Angelini said he abused the opioid pain medications he received after being injured on the job. He loved being a police officer, he said, and allowed the job to take over his life.
Angelini said his time in jail helped him get into recovery, and he pledged to remain in recovery no matter what sentence Hollander issued. Angelini told the judge he hopes to help other law enforcement officers struggling with drug addiction and mental health issues.
“I’ve come to believe this arrest happened for a reason and saved my life,” he said.
Members of Angelini’s family filled the courtroom gallery. His wife, daughter and brother each spoke, asking Hollander for a sentence that would let Angelini come home right away.
Hollander said the case reminded her of Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden who was recently convicted of lying about his illegal drug use to purchase a gun.
“This is a problem that permeates every community, every walk of life, every background,” Hollander said.
