Baltimore man gets 30 years in shooting

Hanover man was wounded in 2020 incident outside Maryland Live Casino

A Baltimore man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for shooting a man in the parking garage of Maryland Live Casino in July 2020.

An Anne Arundel County jury found Alonta Borrell Johnson, 28, guilty of attempted second-degree murder, assault and several firearms offenses after a two-day trial in July.

Judge Cathleen Vitale sentenced Johnson on Sept. 1 to 30 years in prison for attempted second-degree murder, suspending all but 20 years, and a 10-year consecutive sentence for using a firearm in a felony crime. Johnson was on probation for an armed robbery conviction when he shot Anthony Jeppi in the casino parking garage.

Johnson fled the scene in his car and was arrested two days later for gun possession and fleeing the police in an unrelated incident.

Officers responded at 5:15 a.m. on July 19, 2020, to the 7000 block of Arundel Mills Circle, where police say a man was shot after he got in a verbal altercation with the suspect. Jeppi and three friends were leaving the casino when they passed Johnson’s silver Infiniti sedan. Johnson, who was sitting in the driver seat, and Jeppi got into an argument and Johnson fired one bullet into Jeppi’s torso, according to the county state’s attorney’s office.

The bullets shattered two of Jeppi’s ribs and penetrated his spleen, which was later removed at the University of Maryland shock trauma center. Surgeons were unable to remove the bullet since it was lodged near his spine. Jeppi had a limited description of Johnson to give police, the state’s attorneys office said.

Anne Arundel County police reviewed security video that showed Johnson get out of his Infinity sedan and enter the casino, where he handed an employee an interim driver’s license. Police used license plate reader technology to determine the sedan left the mall about two minutes after the shooting.

Johnson was arrested two days later in Baltimore on separate offenses while wearing a pendant and watch identical to the outfit the shooting suspect wore. His car was located in Baltimore a few days later by a mobile license plate reader.

“There’s no reason that a simple disagreement should lead to an individual being shot. The defendant’s actions were cold and callous and this sentence holds him accountable for his actions,” State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in a press release.