Member of West Baltimore gang gets 35 years

A member of the West Baltimore “Trained To Go” gang was sentenced to 35 years in prison Friday for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy to commit eight murders and threatening to kill a witness on the stand during trial, prosecutors said.

Dennis Pulley, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake after he was convicted of drug distribution conspiracy, possession of a firearm and racketeering charges including murder, drug trafficking and witness intimidation in October.

In additional to Pulley, 10 other members of the Sandtown-based gang have been sentenced after a June 2018 indictment detailed their involvement with the gang. Prison time ranged from five years to life sentences. An 11th person, Roger Taylor, 28, was arrested June 30 and is awaiting trial after being a fugitive for two years.

According to the indictment, the gang murdered several people from 2010 to 2017 in West Baltimore, including an incident on July 7, 2015, that left two men and a woman dead near the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus.

“Dennis Pulley and his fellow gang members brought violence and misery to West Baltimore, in the form of murders, shootings, armed robbery, witness intimidation, and drug dealing,” U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Pulley, also known as Denmo, helped plot the 2016 murder of Chris Pennington after he robbed several of Pulley’s marijuana distributors. Pennington also was offering money to find out where Pulley was, prosecutors said.

Pennington was shot and killed Jan. 9, 2017, after prosecutors said Pulley enlisted the help of other gang members.

Officers searched Pulley and Brandon Wilson’s home, where police found the gun used to shoot Pennington, a .22-caliber pistol, a pound of marijuana and $32,758 in cash.

Last October, a witness was on the stand testifying about Pulley when, during a bench conference, a deputy U.S. marshal saw Pulley mouth “I’ll kill you” to the witness on the stand, according to prosecutors. Wilson, 24, was sentenced to 25 years of prison on March1.