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Press Release

Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Robbery He Committed With Former Member of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland

Baltimore, Maryland – United States District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Thomas Robert Finnegan, age 38, of Easton, Pennsylvania, today to 102 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence stemming from a 2014 robbery of a Baltimore city couple.  Co-defendant David Kendall Rahim, age 42, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced on March 9, 2018, to five years in prison.  Judge Blake also ordered both men to pay $20,000 in restitution to the victims.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

Rahim’s cousin, Detective Jemell Lamar Rayam, a former member of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), was also charged in the robbery.  On October 10, 2017, Rayam, age 38, of Owings Mills, Maryland, pleaded guilty to the robbery, as well as racketeering conspiracy and overtime fraud, and is awaiting sentencing.

According to the plea agreements of Finnegan and Rahim, on June 27, 2014, police officers with the GTTF, including Detective Rayam, executed a search warrant at a store that sold pigeons and birdseed.  No illegal contraband or firearms were found at the location.  The storeowners, a married couple, had $20,000 in cash at the store that they intended to use to pay off tax liabilities owed on two homes.

After the search, Rayam told Finnegan and Rahim about the money and agreed to rob the couple at their residence later that evening.  Using a law enforcement database, the former GTTF detective located the home address of the victims.  The defendants surveilled the house, then Rayam gave Finnegan and Rahim BPD tactical gear to impersonate the police during the home invasion.  Rayam remained outside in the vehicle so that he could intercept any police officers who responded to the home invasion by telling them that he was a BPD officer.  Finnegan and Rahim entered the residence and robbed the victims at gunpoint of the $20,000.  During the robbery, Finnegan pointed a gun at one of the victims and said to “sit still and be patient,” while Rahim looked on.  Rahim, Finnegan, and Rayam split the proceeds.

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI for its work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek E. Hines and Leo J. Wise, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

Contact

Marcia Murphy
410-209-4854
Marcia.Murphy@usdoj.gov

Updated June 15, 2018

Topics
Firearms Offenses
Public Corruption