MARYLAND (WBFF) — A 32-year-old Maryland man will spend years in federal prison after authorities said he carried a gun to support drug trafficking in West Baltimore, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office.
U.S. District Court Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Keith Cook to seven years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Authorities said Cook is also a convicted felon who is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence alongside Special Agent in Charge Charles Doerrer of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley.
According to court documents, on Jan. 27, 2023, a Baltimore police officer monitoring a West Baltimore neighborhood through a CitiWatch camera saw Cook and other people in front of a mini mart. Authorities said Cook reached into a blue backpack, pulled out a clear plastic Tupperware container, opened it and removed a clear plastic bag containing suspected marijuana. Cook then took some of the suspected marijuana out of the bag and gave it to an unidentified male, according to the documents.
Minutes later, Cook again took out suspected marijuana and handed it to a second unidentified male, authorities said. Based on what officers observed on the CitiWatch camera, police went to the mini mart.
Officers located and handcuffed Cook, then searched him, according to court documents. Police said they found a firearm equipped with an extended magazine loaded with 26 rounds of 9-millimeter ammunition, 14 Alprazolam pills, 88 Oxycodone pills, a Buprenorphine foil strip, $906 in cash, an iPhone and a flip phone.
Authorities also recovered the backpack, which they said contained the Tupperware filled with bags of suspected marijuana and a clear bag and gelcaps containing a heroin and fentanyl mixture. Law enforcement also found a clear bag with 33 clear gel caps containing a tan powder that did not test positive as a controlled substance, along with a digital scale and various drug-packaging materials, according to the documents.
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