Baltimore Police Officer Ashley Roane, 25, from Pikesville, Md., was arrested on the morning of May 31 and charged with helping a local heroin dealer by providing armed, uniformed security for drug transactions, offering advance notice of search warrants, and, using police databases to check for informants.
Additionally, according a release from the FBI, Roane and her roommate, Erica Hughes, also age 25 of Pikesville, were both charged with aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme in which Roane used a police database to obtain the names of victims to be used to obtain fraudulent tax refunds.
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“The allegations represent an appalling violation of the public trust by an officer who took an oath to serve the public but used her police powers to serve herself,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
“The complaint alleges that Officer Ashley Roane agreed to help a drug dealer find a safe place to sell heroin in Baltimore and provide early warnings before police executed search warrants, that she provided armed security for drug deals while in uniform in her patrol car and that she checked a police database to identify informants. In a separate identity fraud scheme, she allegedly used a police database to obtain names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers that could be used to obtain fraudulent tax refunds from the IRS.”
“This case was discovered and investigated by members of a joint Baltimore Police and FBI anti-corruption task force and re-emphasizes my commitment to rooting out corruption within the Baltimore Police Department,” said Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts. My message to the people of our city is we are not finished—we will continue to relentlessly target corruption and misconduct among the ranks.”
A confidential source provided information regarding alleged criminal activity being conducted by Roane and her roommate Erica Hughes.
That source advised law enforcement that in the fall of 2012, Roane had spoken to the source regarding drug trafficking and had told the source that if the source, whom Roane believed was a large scale heroin trafficker in Baltimore, wanted to sell drugs in the area where she patrolled, Roane would provide the source with a location that is not heavily concentrated with police.
Additionally, Roane told the source that she could provide him with information regarding police activity, specifically when and where drug search warrants would be executed.
The confidential source allegedly paid Roane $500 for her protection; and Roane agreed to provide such protection again in a future narcotics transaction involving multiple kilograms of heroin.
Ashley Roane faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison for possession with intent to distribute heroin, and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of life in prison for possession of a gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Roane and Hughes face a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for aggravated identity theft.
Roane and Hughes will remain in jail pending an initial appearance scheduled for June 3, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
