The Associated Press
BALTIMORE- A federal judge sentenced a gang leader Tuesday to 80 years in prison for trying to intimidate a neighborhood anti-drug activist by firebombing her home.
The judge sentenced Terrence Smith, 24, of Baltimore, Maryland, to 80 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
“This kind of violence can’t be tolerated,” said U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz at the sentencing.
Prosecutors said Smith was the leader of a gang that planned the January 2005 attack in Baltimore on local activist Edna McAbier, who had repeatedly told police about neighborhood drug deals.
Smith gave the order for the firebombing and the defendants met at his home to plan the attack, prosecutors said. They made six Molotov cocktails with beer bottles and gasoline, threw them at McAbier’s home and fled in a car. McAbier was not hurt and the fire did only minor damage to her home.
A jury convicted Smith and two of his seven co-defendants in December of conspiracy to commit witness tampering, witness tampering by attempted murder, the use of firearms in a crime of violence, using fire and explosives in a felony and making firearms.
“We want criminals to know that if they try to intimidate a witness, they will face the full force of state and federal law enforcement to bring about a swift prosecution and substantial punishment,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement.