Crime & Safety
Baltimore Rioter Sentenced in CVS Fire
The man officials say set fire to CVS during April unrest will serve prison time for rioting.
The man charged in the CVS destruction on North and Pennsylvania avenues during the April riots was sentenced Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.
Raymon Carter, 24, of Baltimore, was sentenced to four years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney reported.
Carter entered a guilty plea in September to the federal crime of rioting.
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Officials said the charge was federal because he used a phone—interstate commerce—to participate in a civil disturbance involving an act of violence.
Carter admitted he used the phone on April 27 to communicate plans to go to North and Pennsylvania avenues, where he then found people rioting and setting small fires, the U.S. Attorney reported.
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Looters stormed into the CVS in the 2500 block of Pennsylvania Avenue at approximately 5:30 p.m. that day, and less than an hour later, Carter had set fire to the store using paper products, according to the report.
The CVS building sustained $1.1 million in damage, the U.S. Attorney reported.
U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Carter to pay $500,000 in restitution.
Officials said they received a hotline tip identifying Carter and providing his location within two days of issuing suspect information in the CVS arson and the offer of a reward.
U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein reported that a $10,000 reward helped lead investigators to Carter.
“Ordinary citizens concerned about their neighborhood helped to catch Raymon Carter after he participated in the riot on April 27, 2015,” Rosenstein said in a statement. “Anyone who considers participating in a riot should know that police, prosecutors and citizens will track them down and send them to prison.”
Photo courtesy of Baltimore Police.
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