A Baltimore Police officer admitted on Monday to trading oxycodone pills, information about the homicide of a drug dealer and a ghost gun with the president of a motorcycle club in exchange for cocaine.
Steven Angelini, 43, of Middle River, appeared in U.S. District Court in Baltimore and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute oxycodone and cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Angelini, who joined the Baltimore Police Department in 2006 and has been suspended since 2020, wore a gray jail jumpsuit and sat next to his attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Sedira Banan, in an empty courtroom in the Edward A. Garmatz U.S. Courthouse. He responded to almost every question with, “Yes, your honor” or, “No, your honor.”
“Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty as charged?” U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander asked.
“Yes, your honor,” Angelini replied.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Goo then went through a series of facts that both sides agreed that the government would have proven had the case went to trial:
On Jan. 6, 2022, Angelini offered to sell the president of the Infamous Ryders Motorcycle Club — who’s only identified in the plea agreement as “Co-conspirator 1″ — 90 oxycodone pills for $100 and one-eighth of an ounce of cocaine, or an eight-ball.
Next, Angelini twice offered to go to the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to get information about the killing of “D,” a drug dealer who had worked for the group. The president of the motorcycle club asked Angelini for a copy of a video of the killing, which detectives had recovered from a surveillance camera that belonged to a business.
Later, Angelini texted him nine photos showing the screen of his work computer. The images captured intelligence and incident reports.
Though Angelini told the president of the motorcycle club that he had a copy of the video, that was not the case. Angelini later gave him a flash drive that was empty.
Angelini texted him again on Jan. 25, 2022, and claimed that he had contacted a detective to get the video. If that did not work, Angelini promised that he’d go to the business that had the surveillance camera and “show them his badge.”
On April 8, 2022, Angelini reached out again and proposed selling a “privately made firearm without a serial number” for $300 and an eight-ball of cocaine. He also offered to buy ammunition to make amends for the fact that he had not gotten a copy of the video.
“Hey bro it’s Steven Angelini I hope u ain’t still mad at me buddy,” Angelini texted at 12:55 p.m. “I tried everything to get the video.”
Angelini later met up with “Co-conspirator 2″ in the parking lot of Coach House, a bar on Belair Road near Kenwood Avenue in Northeast Baltimore, to carry out the deal.
Next, on April 25, 2022, Angelini agreed to provide the president of the motorcycle club with 20 oxycodone pills and met him outside Coach House.
Angelini texted him the next day seeking an eight-ball of cocaine and offered to purchase ammunition and “various other firearm accessories.” In total, Angelini spent more than $540 buying items for himself and the president of the motorcycle club.
And on May 4, 2022, Angelini agreed to sell 90 oxycodone pills for $170 in cash and $100 worth of cocaine. He later dropped the pills off at Coach House.
In one exchange, Angelini refers to the president of the motorcycle club as “Keith.” That’s a reference to Keith Dockins Jr., the owner of Killa Dogz, a hot dog stand that adjoins Coach House. Baltimore County Police allege that the motorcycle club used both businesses to sell drugs.
Dockins, 43, of Essex, is awaiting trial in Baltimore County Circuit Court on illegal firearms possession charges. He’s being held without bail, according to online court records.
Since his arrest in 2022, Angelini has been suspended without pay. From 2020 to 2022, he was suspended with pay.
In an email, Lindsey Eldridge, a police spokesperson, said it will “move to separate him from the agency.”
Angelini is set to be sentenced on Feb. 9, 2024.
