Three facing federal charges

December 05, 2003|by GREGORY T. SIMMONS

Three Hagerstown men charged in November with regularly bringing cocaine into Washington County have been indicted on federal charges.

Ronnie Malik Perry, 27, and Elijah Shaheed Kemp, 24, both of 1740 Edgewood Hill Circle, and Frederick Elbert Miles, 46, of 16 N. Prospect St., were arrested in Hagerstown Nov. 6.

They were being held without bond at the Washington County Detention Center on federal detainers filed Nov. 14 by the U.S. Marshals Service. The detainers charge each of them with possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, according to jail information.

Perry, Kemp and Miles were arrested after an eight-month investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the Washington County Narcotics Task Force, and the Franklin County (Pa.) Drug Task Force.

Federal indictments against the men have been sealed in the U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, Pa. The charges were based on the same investigation that led to the original charges in Washington County District Court last month, Assistant Washington County State's Attorney Brett Wilson said.

The State's Attorney's Office dropped its charges against the men Thursday in deference to the federal charges, Wilson said. He said the men were held on the local charges until the federal charges were filed.

According to allegations in charges filed in Washington County, agents applied for a wiretap in federal court after they received a tip about drug shipments connected to Perry.

On Nov. 5 , police tracked Perry and Miles from New York into Hagerstown through the wiretap, the charging documents said. On Nov. 6, police followed the three men's movements through the tapped phone calls.

A DEA agent chasing Kemp was injured after his sport utility vehicle flipped near Valley Mall, but police apprehended Kemp two hours later in a Hagerstown home, charging documents say.

NTF agents found Perry and Miles at the Blockbuster Video store on the Dual Highway after monitoring a phone conversation, the documents said.

During searches of the men and the home where Kemp was found, police seized a total of 20 ounces of cocaine, $38,000 in cash, and two-semiautomatic pistols, police alleged.

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