Baltimore Man Sentenced to 40 Years in Columbia Kidnapping

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A man convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery related to a Columbia home invasion was sentenced this week to 40 years in jail, according to Wayne Kirwan, spokesman for the Howard County State’s Attorney.

Adam Kentrell Richardson, 25, of the 3500 block of Southern Avenue in Baltimore, apologized in Howard County Circuit Court Monday for the incident last May, saying he made ”bad choices.”

Richardson was found guilty of two counts of armed robbery; two counts of kidnapping; two counts of false imprisonment; two counts of first-degree assault; first-degree burglary; third-degree burglary; two counts of robbery; conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery; and two counts of theft less than $1,000.

Police said that Richardson and two others broke into a home in the 5000 block of Durham Road East in Columbia at 2:22 a.m. on May 21, 2014, where they demanded money and assaulted two victims.

“I’m not going to make any excuses for my behavior or background,” Richardson reportedly told the court.

Officials believed the crime was motivated by drugs, Kirwan reported. Police said one suspect was potentially connected to one of the victims by a drug deal, according to the Howard County Times.

Despite Richardson’s mother and fiancee saying they believed he could be rehabilitated, Howard County Circuit Court Judge Raymond J. Kane handed down a 40-year sentence, according to the report provided by Kirwan.

Judge Kane said that Richardson had committed an “egregious act,” according to the state’s attorney’s office.

The suspects bound the victims’ hands with zip ties, pulled shirts over their heads and threw them into the backseat of a vehicle before transporting them to semidetached vacant home in west Baltimore, according to Kirwan.

One of the victims was severely beaten and choked, he said.

Related: Columbia Home Invasion Ends in Baltimore City

Baltimore City police discovered the victims in the 3100 block of Baker Street and alerted Howard County officials that they were investigating a kidnapping that started in Columbia, according to Kirwan’s report.

Two days later, one of the suspects was found murdered three blocks from the home where police discovered the victims, the report said.

The deceased man’s cell phone provided text messages, cell tower mapping and DNA evidence that helped prosecutors link Richardson to the crime, according to the report

A jury found Richardson guilty in November of 19 crimes after a three-day trial and five hours of deliberations, Kirwan reported.

The third suspect will go to trial in April, Kirwan said.