Two former Baltimore Police detectives with the corrupt Gun Trace Task Force were released from prison last week after serving only five years of their seven-year sentences, records show.
Detectives Evodio Hendrix, 37, of Randallstown and Maurice Ward, 41, of Middle River were released Feb. 16, online court records show.
It is unclear why the men were released early, but when the two were sentenced in June 2018, prosecutors asked for lesser sentences due to their extensive cooperation. Prosecutors said at the time information from the officers was being used in continuing investigations.
The officers had worked in plainclothes police units with Sgt. Wayne Jenkins before he brought them over to the Gun Trace Task Force, where they joined forces with other officers who also had been committing robberies for years.
Hendrix and Ward were remorseful at their sentencing, with Ward crying as he apologized.
The two received the lightest sentences out of the officers convicted as a result of the scandal. The government sought and received tougher sentences for Jenkins and Sgt. Thomas Allers, arguing they were supervisors who were entrusted to stop misconduct. Allers was sentenced to 15 years, and Jenkins received 25 years.
Prosecutors said members of the task force routinely violated people’s rights, stole drugs and money using the authority of their badge, and put in for overtime for hours they did not work. Though the officers were charged with a handful of specific robberies, they spoke on the witness stand of broad misconduct.
Both Hendrix and Ward took part in a robbery in which police entered a man’s home without a warrant, found a safe stuffed with cash and took half of the money. Afterward, they recorded a video pretending to open the safe for the first time to cover their tracks.
Though Ward pleaded guilty to crimes only dating to 2014, he admitted his crimes stretched back “years before.” Some crimes were committed with other officers, while others he committed alone.
In the safe robbery, Ward claimed his cut was so large — $20,000 — that he became spooked and discarded it in a wooded area behind his home.
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