Veteran Baltimore cop charged in federal gun, drug case
Baltimore Police officer Steven Angelini faces federal gun and drug charges after trading an AR-15, ammunition, oxycodone and sensitive police information with the leader of a motorcycle gang in exchange for cocaine and money, according to court filings.
FBI agents arrested Angelini, 41, on Wednesday morning at an American Legion, according to court documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun.
He is a 16-year veteran of the department and has been suspended without pay, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland. He has an annual salary of about $87,000, according to city salary records.
Prosecutors charged Angelini, of Middle River, with conspiracy to possess and distribute drugs, distribution of oxycodone, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Angelini faces a maximum of 25 years in prison and more than $2 million in fines if convicted.
Bald and wearing a blue dress shirt, Angelini appeared in court Wednesday and was sobbing. He is scheduled for a detention hearing Thursday morning.
From 2007 to 2008, Angelini spent about 18 months working “covert-narcotics operations” for the police department, according to a federal discrimination lawsuit he filed in 2017. Angelini alleged in the lawsuit he was suffering from a hostile work environment after reporting homophobia, but a judge dismissed the suit in 2020.
Prosecutors say Angelini worked with a co-conspirator identified in court papers as a man named “Keith” who is president of the Maryland chapter of the Infamous Ryders Motorcycle Club. A website for Killa Dogz, a hot dog stand that prosecutors say the Infamous Ryders used to sell drugs, lists a Keith Dockins as the founder.
Dockins is charged in Baltimore County Circuit Court with felony gun possession and using a gun in furtherance of drug trafficking. His attorney, Andrew I. Alperstein, confirmed to The Sun that Dockins is the co-conspirator in Angelini’s criminal complaint.
Authorities used a wiretap on Dockins’ cellphone and later seized it when they raided his home May 25.
On Jan. 6, Angelini texted Dockins, offering to sell him 90 “pinks,” or oxycodone pills, for $8 a pill and some “dog,” according to the criminal complaint against him. Dog is slang for cocaine, authorities said. Eventually, he sold the pills for $100 and an eighth of an ounce of cocaine.
In more text messages, Angelini says his usual cocaine dealer, identified as “D,” was murdered and that he would call the police department’s homicide division to try to get information about any suspects, the complaint says. Prosecutors say he was feeding that information to the biker gang so it could retaliate against the killer, and that Angelini sent Dockins internal intelligence reports, photographs and other information about the suspected killer.
Angelini promised to supply a video of the killing in exchange for more cocaine, but was never able to produce the video. At one point he gave Dockins a USB drive that he claimed contained the video, but Dockins texted him to tell him there was nothing on the drive, according to the criminal complaint.
“I am going to take a ride up to that place who had the video right now and see if they still have [a] copy and get them to let me record it,” Angelini texted Dockins. “Show them my badge.”
“OK yeah it’s just that we had a deal,” Dockins replied. “I hooked [sic] up for it.”
In early April, Angelini sold the bike gang leader a 9 mm AR-15 ghost gun he said he built in exchange for $300 and another eighth of cocaine, according to the complaint. A ghost gun is a privately made firearm, usually from prefabricated parts bought online, without a serial number, which makes them untraceable.
Angelini brought the gun to the Coach House, a bar on Belair Road in Baltimore that the Infamous Ryders used to sell drugs from, the complaint says.
Investigators were watching the parking lot and saw Angelini arrive at the bar and go to the rear entrance, according to the criminal complaint. They also intercepted a phone call between Angelini and Dockins about the exchange.
On April 25, Angelini went to the Coach House and gave Dockins 20 oxycodone pills, telling him over the phone they were a “make up for what I owe you bro,” according to the criminal complaint.
On April 26, Angelini again texted Dockins, telling him he was at a gun store and the pair agreed Angelini would buy more ammunition in exchange for another eighth of cocaine and to repay Dockins for failing to get him the video of D’s killing, according to the criminal complaint.
“I got paid today so if u don’t mind I need a ball,” Angelini texted Dockins, according to the complaint. A “ball” is slang for an eighth of cocaine.
In total Angelini spent $543.60 at the gun shop, prosecutors said.
On May 4, prosecutors say, Angelini picked up his oxycodone prescription from a Walgreens in Middle River and then called Dockins to sell him 90 more pills in exchange for $170 and $100 worth of cocaine.
In 2020, Angelini was arrested in Baltimore County after security footage at a Giant Food showed him putting groceries in a bag without scanning them.
Angelini was scheduled to stand trial for that case Wednesday, but the trial was postponed due to his being arrested.