Left to right, Decarl Savoy Smith, Daniel Jerome Ball and Woodrow Thomas Jr.
Prince Frederick, MD – Three men who are currently inmates at the Calvert County Detention Center were each indicted May 15 in connection with an extortion incident involving another inmate, court authorities confirmed. The three indicted are identified as Decarl Savoy Smith, 26 of Lexington Park; Daniel Jerome Ball, 47 of St. Inigoes; and Woodrow Thomas Jr., 29 of Bowie. The three were each indicted for two counts of extortion less than $1,000, and one count each of second-degree assault and conspiracy to commit second-degree assault.
The victim is identified in the indictment as David Meints. Court records show Meints, 35 of Lusby, recently pleaded guilty to second-degree sex offense and two counts of sex abuse of a minor. He had been indicted on 27 counts before entering the plea. He is to be sentenced July 7 in Calvert County Circuit Court.
For Smith, the indictment is his second in Calvert County in four months. In February, the Calvert County Circuit Court indicted Smith on charges connected with a home invasion burglary/assault that occurred in January, court records stated. Smith was charged with first-degree burglary, home invasion, conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, first-degree assault and second degree assault.
According to a statement of probable caused filed by Tfc. S. Barlow of the Maryland State Police in District Court, during the early morning hours of Jan. 16 police responded to a house on Augustus Drive in Prince Frederick for a reported burglary in progress. Police headed to the scene saw a Ford Explorer traveling away from the residence and blocked the roadway. According to Barlow, Smith was a passenger in the Ford. The residents of the house later identified Smith as the individual who assaulted them after unlawfully entering the home.
The two other occupants of the Ford—the driver, Riley Lynn Evans, 30 of Barstow; and the front passenger, Valerie Marie Tyner, 30 of Barstow—were both indicted on the same five counts as Smith, according to court documents. All three are scheduled to go to trial on the charges stemming from the Jan. 16 incident in late June.
Ball had pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit robbery and is currently serving a four-month sentence.
While Thomas is incarcerated at the Barstow facility, other than the indictment in the extortion case, he faces no other charges in Calvert, court records indicated.
All of the charges in the extortion case are misdemeanors.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com