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Her arrest is part of a large scale drug investigation involving both local, state, and federal law enforcement.
Actress Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, who played a drug dealer and assassin on HBO's The Wire, was arrested along with more than 60 others in a pre-dawn drug raid Thursday in Baltimore. Her arrest was part of a large scale, five-month drug investigation -- reportedly involving a large-scale heroin and marijuana operation -- that was conducted by local, state, and federal law enforcement, according to the Balitmore Sun.
Local television showed video of Pearson being led by DEA agents from an apartment building downtown to a waiting police van. Police declined to say what charges she faces.
In her 2007 memoir, Grace After Midnight, Pearson -- now 30 -- wrote of being born to a drug-addicted mother and then selling drugs herself. At 14, she killed another teenager and served time in Jessup State Penitentiary for murder, according to the memori.
After her release from prison, she met an actor from The Wire cast in a club and joined the show until it ended in 2008.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- http://egolost.com "I am already given to the power that rules my fate. And I cling to nothing, so I will have nothing to defend. I have no thoughts, so I will see. I fear nothing, so I will remember myself."
More than 60 people, including 'Snoop'
of 'The Wire,' arrested in drug
raids
March 10, 2011 - Baltimore Sun
Arrests in operation 'Usual Suspects'
are culmination of 5-month
investigation
After hundreds of local and federal police fanned out across Baltimore
at dawn yesterday, hauling suspects out of homes and off the streets,
authorities announced at day's end that they had shut down one of the
city's major sources of illicit drugs and violence.
In all, they charged 63 suspects with federal and state drug conspiracy
counts — among them Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, whose arrest on
heroin-related and aiding and abetting charges echoed the street
lifestyle she portrayed as a character in HBO's series "The Wire" and
sought to overcome in her personal life.
Though her role in the conspiracy was said to be relatively small, her
arrest at a downtown high-rise brought increased visibility to a case
officials believe will strike a blow to a major drug operation. Dubbed
Operation Usual Suspects, the case targeted repeat offenders who
authorities say might be responsible for recent violence emanating from
their base in East Baltimore.
"Our goal was to totally dismantle this organization from head to toe
and everything in between," said Carl J. Kotowski, the Drug Enforcement
Administration's assistant special agent in charge, as hundreds of
officers assembled before dawn at M&T Bank Stadium to prepare for
the raids.
The arrests were the culmination of an intensive five-month
investigation by the DEA and Baltimore police, acting on intelligence
that started flowing in about the Latrobe Homes-based organization in
2008, authorities said at an afternoon news conference.
A federal indictment against 15 suspects says they had ties to New York
and California, and alleges that conspirators "would engage in acts of
violence against members of the conspiracy who failed to perform
required tasks."
"This is truly a heavy-lifting case that goes back to 2008," said
Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III. "It should be
a reminder to every bad guy in the city that we have a pretty good team
coming to get you."
Officials declined to elaborate on what they termed one of the largest
cases to be brought in the city.
The DEA invited two reporters to accompany officers carrying out raids
on warrants issued at the state level. About 450 officers from various
law enforcement agencies met before 4:30 a.m. at the Baltimore Ravens'
stadium, gathering in groups of eight to 10 before heading out to
execute search warrants in a persistent rain.
Sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle seized earlier from drug
dealers, Kotowski explained the planning involved in the far-reaching
operation. As he spoke, a car being driven by agents pulled ahead at
intersections, flashing emergency lights to block traffic.
"SWAT's already hit one [location]," Kotowski said. "They wanted to do
it for safety. It was a high risk, and the earlier, the better."
DEA agent Edward Marcinko, also the agency's spokesman, drove through
the early morning stillness of a business district along West Baltimore
Street, then to the 1200 block of W. Lombard St., where he pulled into
an alley.
Baltimore police and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms took positions around the front and back of a home, guns
drawn, and waited for a sign. In an instant, officers had forced open
the front door, and flashlights could be seen flickering near the back
upstairs window.
Inside, officials say, they found the man they were searching for. He
was wearing turquoise pajama pants and sitting on the floor of the
home, which was apparently being remodeled, as evidenced by a makeshift
table on paint cans and power tools. A young woman sat beside him, near
a new stainless-steel refrigerator. The front door was damaged, the
front steps covered with glass from the broken double-pane window.
Neighbors stuck their heads out of windows and into the rain, trying to
figure out what was going on.
"All I heard was pounding, and, 'Kick it in, kick it in, get it in!'"
said Priscilla Reed, 47. "We opened the door and they were like, 'Close
the door back!' and we saw them in the street with guns."
From there, agents drove to The Redwood apartment building on South
Eutaw Street, where just before 7 a.m., Pearson was taken into custody.
Kotowski said he and Pearson chatted briefly.
"I asked, 'What are you doing now?' She said, 'I'm an actress,'"
Kotowski said. "We're lucky. She just got back from Michigan, or
Minnesota, where she was doing something else. If we came a few days
earlier, we would have missed her."
Pearson looked downward as she was led out of the apartment building
and into a police van.
Previously, she spent six years at the Maryland Correctional
Institution for Women in Jessup for fatally shooting a girl at age 14.
In 2005, she was arrested after failing to cooperate in a trial in a
killing she witnessed on The Block, Baltimore's red-light district.
While serving the warrant, police found a small amount of marijuana in
her home and charged her with drug possession — a charge of which she
was later acquitted. After she vowed to invoke her Fifth Amendment
right not to testify, prosecutors offered the murder suspect, Steven
James Lashley, a plea deal, with a 30-year sentence and half the term
suspended.
And while she has not appeared in an acting role since "The Wire" ended
its run in 2008, she secured a role in a movie called "Criminal Empire
for Dummies," with a cast that includes Gary Oldman and Harvey Keitel,
set to be released this year.
Also charged in the federal indictment and taken into custody Thursday
is Gerard Mungo, father of the young boy arrested for sitting on a dirt
bike in 2007. Then-Mayor Sheila Dixon apologized to the family at the
time. The elder Mungo faced first-degree murder charges last year,
which were dropped by city prosecutors in June, court records show.
By daybreak, officers were finishing up at another target, a house in
the 1600 block of N. Regester St. in East Baltimore. There, in a strip
of mostly vacant properties north of Johns Hopkins Hospital, officers
led Tabitha Williams and Donovan Sterling out in handcuffs, with a blue
sweat shirt over Williams' head.
"Bye, baby," she told Sterling as they were separated.
"All right," he muttered. To the officers, he said, "Make sure my house
gets secured up."
Some of those indicted remained at large Thursday night, authorities
said.
Officers executing 40 search warrants confiscated four guns, 5 pounds
of marijuana and 5 grams of raw heroin, according to Bealefeld.
"I'm confident we've made a section of Baltimore much safer," the
commissioner said.
Quote: Humility said: Officers executing 40 search warrants confiscated four guns, 5 pounds of marijuana and 5 grams of raw heroin, according to Bealefeld.
40 search warrants, 63 suspects and only 5 pounds of bud and 5 GRAMS (what, 2500-5000 depending on %cut?) of heroin?
I wonder how the charges go, like if they can charge everyone with possessing all the drugs there lol.
Seems kind of paltry.
Paltry would be a compliment. What a joke.
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They are claiming its a conspiracy so they will come down with RICO charges. Could be looking at serious time (15+ to life) if the prosecution can prove the case and wants to be a dick.
I really want to know if they caught her with a wire tap. Would be way more ironic than rain on your wedding day.
Rico doesn't fall under organized drug gang for 5lbs and 5 grams of heroin. There is no rico. Their "ties" are probably sending each other weed in the mail.
No, she wasn't. That was one of the best things about her character. She wasn't an actress hired to play a role but an actual former drug dealer in the game from the streets of Baltimore.
The Wire was definitely one of the best TV series I've seen.
Quote: veggie said: No, she wasn't. That was one of the best things about her character. She wasn't an actress hired to play a role but an actual former drug dealer in the game from the streets of Baltimore.
The Wire was definitely one best TV series I've seen.
I just finished watching it again just a few days ago (by "it" I mean the entire series).
The last time I saw it I was 16 or so. It's definitely a much different watch at this age. It is beautifully done and shows so many minute elements of street life that it's highly commendable.
One of the most high quality series that's ever been made, ever. I challenge someone to name a series that was better put-together.
I love Weeds and Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad but they are soap operas, dramas, compared to The Wire. It's as close to a documentary as you'd ever get.
Quote: veggie said: No, she wasn't. That was one of the best things about her character. She wasn't an actress hired to play a role but an actual former drug dealer in the game from the streets of Baltimore.
The Wire was definitely one best TV series I've seen.
I just finished watching it again just a few days ago (by "it" I mean the entire series).
The last time I saw it I was 16 or so. It's definitely a much different watch at this age. It is beautifully done and shows so many minute elements of street life that it's highly commendable.
One of the most high quality series that's ever been made, ever. I challenge someone to name a series that was better put-together.
I love Weeds and Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad but they are soap operas, dramas, compared to The Wire. It's as close to a documentary as you'd ever get.
I am intrigued. Going to check this show out when I can.
Quote: Humility said: The last time I saw it I was 16 or so. It's definitely a much different watch at this age. It is beautifully done and shows so many minute elements of street life that it's highly commendable.
One of the most high quality series that's ever been made, ever. I challenge someone to name a series that was better put-together.
I love Weeds and Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad but they are soap operas, dramas, compared to The Wire. It's as close to a documentary as you'd ever get.
I feel you there. For me The Wire set a high-water mark that I can't even imagine anything else surpassing. The characters, their development, the different angles each season takes...it's just fucking beautiful! The producers were clearly motivated to tell a story that was very close to their hearts and that they knew expertly. I really liked the balanced perspective they give on the characters too. Nobody is an absolute villain (Marlo does come close), but none of them are saints either. The story is told through the characters and it adds a deep human element to it...I can't think of any other TV show, movie, or anything else that did such an amazing job in this regard.
It also gives such a expansive view of street life and culture. It's a whole world that so many of us really don't much understand. The dialogue alone is endlessly engrossing. In that sense it's also like taking a really good sociology class.
Fuck yeah. I'm gonna have to start watching it again.
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im a late bloomer, dont really buy into tv shows that just come out, I wait for a while and watch them. finally catching The WIRE. It was better than I expected it to be..
btw I just seen Frank Zappa on Miami Vice.. better late than never.
Quote: Humility said: One of the most high quality series that's ever been made, ever. I challenge someone to name a series that was better put-together. .
The Sopranos /thread
-------------------- "I just need to check inside ya asshole SIR.... Asshole clear!"
Quote: Humility said: One of the most high quality series that's ever been made, ever. I challenge someone to name a series that was better put-together. .
The Sopranos /thread
The bits and pieces of it that I have seen don't lead me to this conclusion. That said I haven't seen even a single episode all the way through. I'm going to download the series and watch it so I can compare them.
Thats exactly how I felt about the sopranos until I actualy watched it all the way through. Some episodes suck but overall the show is brilliant if you ask me. I used to think James Gandolfinni sp? was to over the top in the show but the more I watched it the more I loved his character. I will say though that the ending of the whole series was not good, I didnt like they way they did it at all. With that said while watching the sopranos to me it feels like you are realy watching a bunch of mobsters in real life doing what they do, the acting is pretty flawless and the storylines almost always keep my intrigued and also the violence is in your face and fucking brutal when it wants to be, not over the top unrealistic shit. To each his own though I just prefer the sopranos to the wire but I like both shows.
-------------------- "I just need to check inside ya asshole SIR.... Asshole clear!"
-------------------- We will also report to the NAACP and to Al Sharpton's entourage, how the Shroomery administrators allows their mods and members to be balatantly allowed the use of the 'N' word.
if you execute 40 warrants and only get 5 grams of raw... sounds like personal to me
-------------------- - grimR
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- http://egolost.com "I am already given to the power that rules my fate. And I cling to nothing, so I will have nothing to defend. I have no thoughts, so I will see. I fear nothing, so I will remember myself."
David Simon, Creator of The Wire, Speaks on Felicia "Snoop" Pearson's Arrest
Earlier today, The Wire actress Felicia "Snoop" Pearson was arrested as part of a large-scale drug raid in Baltimore and surrounding counties. Slate asked David Simon, creator and executive producer of The Wire (and currently in production on Treme), for comment. He offered this statement, provided to Slate through an HBO spokesperson.
First of all, Felicia's entitled to the presumption of innocence. And I would note that a previous, but recent drug arrest that targeted her was later found to be unwarranted and the charges were dropped. Nonetheless, I'm certainly sad at the news today. This young lady has, from her earliest moments, had one of the hardest lives imaginable. And whatever good fortune came from her role in The Wire seems, in retrospect, limited to that project. She worked hard as an actor and was entirely professional, but the entertainment industry as a whole does not offer a great many roles for those who can portray people from the other America. There are, in fact, relatively few stories told about the other America.
Beyond that, I am waiting to see whether the charges against Felicia relate to heroin or marijuana. Obviously, the former would be, to my mind, a far more serious matter. And further, I am waiting to see if the charges or statement of facts offered by the government reflect any involvement with acts of violence, which would of course be of much greater concern.
In an essay published two years ago in Time magazine, the writers of The Wire made the argument that we believe the war on drugs has devolved into a war on the underclass, that in places like West and East Baltimore, where the drug economy is now the only factory still hiring and where the educational system is so crippled that the vast majority of children are trained only for the corners, a legal campaign to imprison our most vulnerable and damaged citizens is little more than amoral. And we said then that if asked to serve on any jury considering a non-violent drug offense, we would move to nullify that jury's verdict and vote to acquit. Regardless of the defendant, I still believe such a course of action would be just in any case in which drug offenses—absent proof of violent acts—are alleged.
Both our Constitution and our common law guarantee that we will be judged by our peers. But in truth, there are now two Americas, politically and economically distinct. I, for one, do not qualify as a peer to Felicia Pearson. The opportunities and experiences of her life do not correspond in any way with my own, and her America is different from my own. I am therefore ill-equipped to be her judge in this matter.
'Wire' actress pleads guilty in drug case August 8, 2011 - Associated Press
BALTIMORE (AP) ' An actress who played a Baltimore drug gang assassin in HBO's "The Wire" pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to distribute heroin, caught by a wiretap in a joint federal-state drug probe of an alleged drug gang.
Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin, a day before her trial was set to begin. Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill accepted the plea, suspending a seven-year sentence with credit for time served and ordering three years of supervised probation with provisions for out-of-state travel for work.
The plea allows Pearson to move on with her acting career, instead of spending more than a year with charges hanging over her, attorney Benjamin C. Sutley said outside the courthouse.
"I can't say she would have been found not guilty," Sutley said. But Pearson interrupted, saying "I would have been found not guilty."
Pearson was one of 64 people charged in March in "Operation Usual Suspects." The federal indictment states that since 2008, members of the conspiracy bought heroin from New York and marijuana from California and sold the drugs on the streets of Baltimore. As part of the conspiracy, the indictment alleges, members discussed how those who failed to perform required tasks were dealt with violently.
Pearson was caught on a wiretap conspiring with Shawn Johnson and Jeff Gibbs, who bought heroin in bulk from New York and distributed the drugs in Baltimore, according to a statement of charges read aloud in court by prosecutor Rebecca Finn. Johnson paid Pearson to store drugs and money, including drug proceeds, at her apartment in the city, Finn said.
When another member of the alleged conspiracy was kidnapped by rival dealers, Johnson told him to go to Pearson's apartment to get money pay a ransom, Finn said. Police interrupted the abduction outside Pearson's apartment and found heroin in the abducted man's car, she said. Informants also told investigators that Pearson occasionally sold heroin for Johnson, Finn said.
Some of the people involved in the wider case helped take care of Pearson when she was a teen, but she has now "learned a valuable lesson about how some loyalties you keep and others drag you down," Sutley said.
Pearson said she knows everyone in Baltimore. Asked how she'll avoid falling into the same situation in the future, Pearson said, "I'm moving to L.A."
Pearson, who wore retro-style glasses with a black-and-white checked shirt and a red paisley bow tie to court, said she is working on two movies. She later updated her followers on Twitter, "I'm FREE."
"The Wire," which ran from 2002 to 2008, was filmed in Baltimore and put a spotlight on the city's struggle with poverty and drug violence through the stories of the city's police, drug organizations, schools, politicians and media. Pearson's character, which shares the nickname "Snoop," knocks off several people for the fictitious Stanfield drug gang.
This was not Pearson's first brush with the law. She was convicted of second-degree murder in a slaying committed when she was 14. She served five years of an eight-year sentence and was released in 2000. Pearson was arrested on a minor drug charge in 2008 when police went to her home to pick her up for refusing to cooperate as a witness in a murder trial. She was found not guilty.