Baltimore Police Sergeant Admits To Robberies, Lies: DA

BALTIMORE, MD — The Baltimore police sergeant who headed up the gun task force that is at the center of a federal racketeering case entered a guilty plea on Wednesday, according to the U.S. District Attorney. Sgt. Thomas Allers admitted to racketeering conspiracy and related offenses, including nine robberies in which he stole more than $90,000, the district attorney said.

One of his victims was later fatally shot because he was unable to pay a drug-related debt, according to the district attorney.

Allers, 49, was the officer in charge of the Baltimore Police Department's special Gun Trace Task Force from July 2013 until he was reassigned to a different unit on June 14, 2016. The unit was created to investigate gun-related crimes. It was dismantled in March after seven officers who were part of the unit were indicted in the racketeering scheme. Allers was indicted in August.

Allers admitted to stealing more than $90,000 from victims who in some cases had earned the money lawfully, according to his plea agreement. Thefts he was involved in ranged from $700 to $66,000, his plea agreement said.

• 7 Baltimore Police Officers Indicted In Racketeering Scheme
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• Indicted Baltimore Officers Charged With 13 More Robberies

Here are some of the cases that the district attorney cited from the agreement:

• Allers and other officers robbed people at a residence of more than $10,000 after making an arrest there. One of the residents was later fatally shot because he was unable to pay a drug-related debt. Allers signed off on a report that said no money was taken from the residents in the case on April 28, 2016.
• Allers and other officers took $7,000 from a residence in Baltimore City where he signed off on a report stating $1,624 was seized. The resident had $8,000 from drug sale proceeds, $300 for BGE, $900 for rent and $200 in her daughter's birthday money. That case was from March 2, 2016.
• Allers admitted that he and other officers took $5,700 from a home in Baltimore City. When they executed a search warrant, they found $6,000 that the homeowners made legally from used car sales and a tax refund. The officers filed a report saying that $233 was seized in the case, which occurred on April 3, 2015. They pocketed $5,700 for themselves.

Allers was the fifth and highest ranking of the officers involved in the federal racketeering case to plead guilty, according to the district attorney. He joined the Baltimore Police Department in 1996 and has been behind bars since March when he was indicted.

He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison at his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Feb. 23, 2018.

Pictured, Sgt. Thomas Allers. Photo courtesy of the Baltimore Police Department via AP.