Baltimore Drug Trafficker Who Injured Hospital Patient During Flight from Police Sentenced to Nearly Four Years in Federal Prison for Possession Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances

 Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Terrel Tomlin, age 32, of Baltimore, Maryland to 46 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine.     

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge James R. Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, on December 4, 2019, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers observed Tomlin driving his vehicle back and forth through three lanes of traffic without signaling as well as braking quickly and aggressively.  Officers conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle on the road leading towards Sinai Hospital’s emergency room entrance. 

As detailed in the plea agreement, before approaching the vehicle, officers observed Tomlin making furtive movements in the vehicle and lowering his head towards the right side of the car.  During the traffic stop, a BPD officer asked Tomlin for his driver’s license and registration and noticed Tomlin’s hands shaking excessively and his eyes were opened extremely wide.  Based on Tomlin’s furtive movements and excessive nervousness, a BPD officer asked him to step out of the vehicle.

Instead, Tomlin attempted to flee, crashing his vehicle into a stationery vehicle, in which Victim 1, who was recently discharged from the hospital after surgery, was the driver, and Victim 1’s child (Victim 2) was a passenger.  After the crash, Tomlin got out of the car and fled on foot, carrying a blue duffel bag.  Items were falling out of the bag as Tomlin fled.  Before he was apprehended by a BPD officer, Tomlin threw the bag in the air, causing items to scatter. 

BPD officers recovered drugs and drug paraphernalia along the route that Tomlin ran as he fled from them, including the area in which they apprehended him.  Among the items recovered were a blender containing fentanyl and tramadol residue; packaging material, some of which contained cocaine residue; and a clear plastic bag containing approximately 38 grams of heroin mixed with fentanyl.  During a search of Tomlin’s vehicle, BPD officers recovered a container of Inositol, a cutting agent for heroin; a bottle of ammonia, typically used to clean heroin mixing equipment; and a measuring cup. 

During the crash, the steering wheel struck Victim 1’s surgery wound, and Victim 2’s head hit a window of the vehicle.  Both victims received treatment for, and subsequently recovered from, the injuries caused by Tomlin crashing into their vehicle.

Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the HSI Baltimore and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Samika N. Boyd, who prosecuted the case.