Baltimore Police Sergeant Sentenced To Prison For Robberies

BALTIMORE, MD – A former Baltimore police sergeant has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a racketeering conspiracy that involved robbing citizens and lying about it on reports. Sergeant Thomas Allers, 49, of Linthicum Heights, admitted to nine robberies, according to federal officials.

He admitted to stealing more than $117,000 from the people he had sworn to protect, the U.S. Attorney said.

Allers 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 2017 after seven members were indicted in the racketeering scheme. Allers was indicted in August.

Here are some of the crimes to which he admitted, based on his plea 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.

Thefts he was involved in ranged from $700 to $66,000, his plea agreement said.

After his 15-year sentence for racketeering conspiracy and racketeering offenses, Allers will be on supervised release for three years, U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake ruled.

• 7 Baltimore Police Officers Indicted In Racketeering Scheme
• Gun Task Force Leader Tipped Cops Of Probe: Indictment
• Indicted Baltimore Officers Charged With 13 More Robberies

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