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November 4, 2011

Convicted 11 times, suspect goes to prison again

Barry Murel, even by Baltimore standards, has had his share of trouble. Federal authorities say he's been convicted 11 previous crimes. On Thursday, a judge sent him away again, this time for 16 years for selling drugs and possessing a gun.

His record spans two pages of the Maryland judiciary court website -- convictions mostly for drugs and assault. He's never made his way into the newspapers.

Here is what the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office has to say about the now 12-time convicted criminal:

 U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Barry Murel, age 49, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to 16 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and heroin, and for illegally possessing a gun and ammunition.   Judge Motz enhanced Murel’s sentence upon finding that he is an armed career criminal, based on 11 previous convictions for narcotics and violent crime offenses.
 
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Mark Chait of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein; and  Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III.
 
“ATF and our partners are committed to taking the worst of the worst off the streets, as is evident by Mr. Murel's significant sentence,” says ATF Special Agent in Charge Mark Chait.
 
According to evidence presented to Judge Motz during Murel’s two day bench trial, on June 13, 2009, law enforcement was planning to execute a search warrant at Murel’s home in the 4100 block of Hayward Avenue in Baltimore.  Detectives located Murel standing on the corner of the 3500 block of W. Belvedere Avenue and he was arrested.  A search of Murel recovered two plastic bags containing crack cocaine, three clear plastic bags containing heroin, and $85.  A subsequent search of Murel’s home located a Ruger, model Super Redhawk, .44 Remington Magnum caliber revolver handgun, loaded with four .44 Remington Magnum caliber cartridges, in the rear bedroom, which Murel indicated was his bedroom.  Murel had previously been convicted of a felony and was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
 
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF, Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in this investigation and thanked Assistant United States Attorneys John W. Sippel, Jr. and Peter M. Nothstein, who prosecuted the case.
Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:36 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Northwest Baltimore
        

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About Peter Hermann
Peter Hermann started covering news for The Baltimore Sun in 1990, first in Anne Arundel County and, starting in 1994, reporting on the Baltimore Police Department. In 2001, he was assigned to Jerusalem as the Baltimore Sun's Middle East correspondent. He returned in 2005 as an assistant city editor overseeing crime coverage. In 2008, Peter returned to the beat as a daily reporter and blogger. A recent BBC report featured him in a segment on the harsh realities of covering crime in Baltimore.

Coverage will focus on crime trends, problems in neighborhoods in the city and elsewhere, profiles of victims and police officers and try to offer readers a fresh perspective on one of the most vexing issues facing Baltimore and its future.



Contributing to this blog is Justin Fenton, who joined The Sun in 2005 and has covered the Baltimore City Police Department and the criminal justice system since 2008. His work includes an investigation into Cal Ripken Jr.’s minor league baseball stadium deal with his hometown of Aberdeen, a three-part series chronicling a ruthless con woman, coverage of the killing of five Amish children at a schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and a job swap with a British crime reporter to explore differences in crime-fighting. A special report looking into how city police handle rape cases led to sweeping reforms that changed the way sexual assaults are investigated in Baltimore. He was recognized as the best reporter in Baltimore by the City Paper in 2010 and by Baltimore Magazine in 2011.
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