Prince Frederick, MD – A Calvert County man who has been indicted in St. Mary’s County on second-degree murder charges and in Calvert on drug distribution charges was arraigned in circuit court Friday, Feb. 17 for additional allegations. Mark Steven Garner, 28 appeared before Judge E. Gregory Wells for arraignment on five additional charges, including altering physical evidence criminal process, conspiring to alter physical evidence of a crime process and bury/disposal of a body in an unauthorized place. All of the additional charges are misdemeanors. The incident from which the charges stem occurred sometime between Sept. 26 and 27 of last year, court records indicated.
Garner, who is currently incarcerated in the St. Mary’s County Detention Center, was charged in that jurisdiction last fall in connection with the death of Barbara Ann Sneden, 31, who had been found by police in a location in California Aug. 31 of last year. Detectives from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigation Division responded to a 911 call and found Sneden unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The Maryland State Medical Examiner’s Office subsequently ruled the cause of Sneden’s death to be “heroin intoxication.”
On Sept. 29, Calvert County Circuit Court Judge Marjorie Clagett signed a search and seizure warrant for a residence in Dowell where Garner was residing. According to documents on filed in District Court, the warrant was subsequently executed by members of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Operations Team and Drug Enforcement Unit. Garner was located at the residence. Police also discovered a quantity of suspected heroin.
According to the statement of probable cause submitted by an undercover officer, Garner agreed to speak with investigators without an attorney present, signing a waiver form. “In speaking with Garner I asked him how many people he was giving heroin to,” the officer stated. “Garner said, ‘you mean how many people am I helping get well? About a handful.’ ” When asked by the officer to clarify, Garner stated, “about five or six.”
Last November, Garner was indicted in Calvert County on eight counts, including four felony charges for controlled dangerous (CDS) substance possession with intent to distribute narcotics.
Garner is currently being represented by Eric Sullivan in the St. Mary’s County case and Jacqueline Swanson in the drug distribution case in Calvert County. Garner had no representation at the Feb. 17 arraignment on the altering physical evidence charges. Wells recommended Garner seek counsel from the Public Defender’s Office.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com