Female DMI Member and Elder Exiled to 19 Years in Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy Involving Drug Trafficking and Murder

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Nicky Cash, a/k/a “Mom,” age 47, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to 19 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to participate in a violent racketeering enterprise known as the Dead Man Incorporated (DMI).

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives-Baltimore Field Division; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Commissioner Anthony W. Batts of the Baltimore Police Department; Anne Arundel County Police Chief Larry W. Tolliver; Secretary Gary D. Maynard of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein; and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee.

According to court documents, DMI was created originally in 2000 as a prison gang in Maryland, and at its inception was closely allied to the Black Guerilla Family (BGF), another prison gang. By 2006, DMI expanded its membership by recruiting members outside prison, including women.

According to Cash’s plea agreement, she became a member of DMI in 2009. Female DMI members are called “Diamonds,” and Cash was the head of the Diamonds for various periods of time. In February, 2009, Cash assisted other DMI members after a stabbing. On June 2, 2010, Cash passed an order from Perry Roark, a founder and the Supreme Commander of DMI, to kill someone who had witnessed a 1994 prison murder that Roark had committed, to another DMI member, who then committed the murder. Later, in 2009, Cash became an elder in DMI. For many months, Cash and other DMI members distributed cocaine near her residence in South Baltimore and near her place of employment on Baltimore Street in downtown Baltimore. Cash admitted that she frequently smuggled and assisted in the smuggling of heroin and other narcotics, as well as cell phones, to Perry Roark in prison.

Perry Roark, a/k/a Rock, “Pops,” “Slim,” “Saho the Ghost,” age 42, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to participate in a violent racketeering enterprise known as the Dead Man Incorporated (DMI).

Mr. Rosenstein praised the FBI, ATF, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Baltimore County Police Department, Anne Arundel County Police Department, Baltimore City Police Department, the Maryland State Police, Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office, Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office for their assistance in this investigation and prosecution.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Robert R. Harding and Christopher J. Romano, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.