Baltimore, Maryland – Sergeant Thomas Allers, age 49, of Linthicum Heights, Maryland was arrested today for a racketeering conspiracy and racketeering offenses, including robbery and extortion. The indictment was returned on August 24, 2017 and unsealed today.
The indictment was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
The racketeering indictment alleges that Allers stole money from victims, some of whom had not committed crimes, swore out false affidavits and submitted false official incident reports. Sergeant Allers joined the Baltimore Police Department on July 22, 1996. He became the officer-in-charge of the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), a specialized unit created to investigate firearms crimes, on or about July 25, 2013.
The racketeering conspiracy alleges robbery and extortion violations committed by Allers in 2014, 2015 and 2016 when he was the officer-in-charge of the GTTF. Allers was reassigned out of the GTTF on June 14, 2016.
In some cases, there was no evidence of criminal conduct by the victims; Allers stole money that had been earned lawfully. The amounts stolen ranged from $700 to $66,000.
For example, on or about April 3, 2015, Allers and coconspirators executed a search warrant at a residence in Baltimore City and discovered approximately $6,000 in the home. This money was a combination of money that the homeowners had made buying and selling used cars and a tax refund the wife had received. Allers and his coconspirators took approximately $5,700 of the $6,000, and then filed a false incident report stating that only $233 had been seized.
In another incident, on or about March 2, 2016, Allers and his co-conspirators executed a search warrant at a residence in Baltimore City. The resident of the home had $200 in her purse, which her daughter had received the previous day during her birthday party, $900 to pay her rent for that month, $300 to pay down the amount of money she owed Baltimore Gas & Electric for utilities and $8,000 which was the proceeds of drug sales. Allers approved the false report that stated that only $1,624 had been seized from home, when in fact, he had stolen more than $7,000.
In another incident, on or about April 28, 2016, Allers and coconspirators robbed a residence after arresting an individual who resided at the residence. Allers and his coconspirators robbed the occupants of the residence of over $10,000. Allers approved a false incident report which failed to report that any money had been taken from the residence, when in fact he and his coconspirators stole more than $10,000. Following this robbery, one of the residents was shot and killed because he could not repay a drug-related debt.
According to the indictment, Allers allegedly prepared and submitted false official incident and arrest reports, reports of property seized from arrestees, and charging documents. The false reports concealed the fact that the officers had stolen money from individuals. In addition, the indictment alleges that Allers obstructed law enforcement by alerting other members of the GTTF about potential investigations of their criminal conduct.
Allers has been charged with nine counts of Robbery and Extortion and the indictment alleges that he stole over $90,000.00.
Allers faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy, the robveries and for racketeering. Allers is scheduled to have his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore today at 3:00 p.m. in Courtroom 7D.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for their work in the investigation. Acting U.S. Attorney Schenning also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise and Derek E. Hines, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.