Jury convicts two Baltimore detectives

BALTIMORE -- Two Baltimore police detectives were convicted of robbery, racketeering, and conspiracy Monday in a trial that's part of an ongoing federal investigation into corruption among rogue members of the city's police force.

After the jury foreman read the verdict following two days of deliberations, detectives Daniel Hersl and Marcus Taylor were shackled and led out of U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

The two detectives were each convicted of racketeering conspiracy, racketeering and robbery under the federal Hobbs Act, which prohibits interference with interstate commerce. They face up to 20 years on each count, for a total of 60 years.

The trial was dominated by four ex-detectives who testified that the Police Department's elite Gun Trace Task Force was actually made up of thugs with badges who stole cash, resold looted narcotics and lied under oath to cover their tracks. They detailed acts of astonishing police criminality, including armed home invasions, stretching back to 2008.

Acting Police Commissioner Darryl DeSousa said that the department will move to fire Hersl and Taylor.

A Section on 02/13/2018

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