City to pay $300K to settle GTTF suit
Baltimore’s spending board is poised to approve a $300,000 payment next week to settle a lawsuit brought by the rapper Young Moose against convicted former Gun Trace Task Force Detective Daniel Hersl.
The settlement is on the Board of Estimates agenda for Wednesday, with lawyers for the city and Kevron Evans, known as Young Moose, having reached the agreement May 10.
Filed last March in Baltimore Circuit Court, the complaint sought $1.5 million in damages for Evans, 28, accusing Hersl and other officers of planting drugs on Evans, applying for warrants based on false allegations and illegally arresting him. The officers’ persistent harassment robbed Evans, a Baltimore native, of lucrative music endeavors and tarnished his reputation, according to the lawsuit. Neither of Evans’ attorneys,
Howard and Mandy Miliman, returned messages requesting comment Friday afternoon.
Hersl is serving an 18-year sentence in federal prison after a jury convicted him in 2018 of racketeering crimes related to the Gun Trace Task Force corruption scandal. He was accused of stealing money during his time with the notoriously rogue group of cops and beforehand. Hersl is incarcerated at an administrative security federal medical center in Springfield, Missouri.
A lawyer listed as representing Hersl in the lawsuit could not be reached Friday afternoon.
Evans had complained about Hersl trying to derail his musical career before filing a lawsuit. Once, police used lyrics and images from one of the rapper’s videos in a statement of probable cause for his arrest and took him into custody as he was about to take the stage at the Royal Farms Arena.
The lawsuit recounted Evans’ arrest outside of a bar on Oct. 12, 2012. Several police officers handcuffed Evans and took him to Hersl, who was waiting at another location. Hersl opened the trunk of his car, got something out of it, searched him — despite his fellow officers saying they’d already searched Evans — and said he found crack cocaine, according to the suit.
Evans faced three felonies from the arrest and accepted a plea on the advice of his attorney. A judge handed down a suspended sentence and probation. The office of Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby vacated Evans’ conviction in 2020 during the review of hundreds of cases involving the convicted and disgraced Gun Trace Task Force officers.
Nine other officers were named in Evans’ lawsuit, which will be dismissed when the settlement is approved.
The city’s law department recommended resolving the lawsuit outside of court to avoid protracted legal fees and the potential for the city being on the hook for a bigger sum if the case progressed, according to a memorandum from City Solicitor Jim Shea to the spending board.
Mayor Brandon Scott, City Council President Nick Mosby and Comptroller Bill Henry, all Democrats, will vote Wednesday on whether to approve the settlement. The city already has paid out in excess of $10 million to settle lawsuits against members of the Gun Trace Task Force.