Maryland Democratic Senate nominee Angela Alsobrooks was involved in a series of plea deals during her roughly 15-year stint as a prosecutor that could challenge her persona as a tough-on-crime politician.
Court records reviewed by the Washington Examiner of cases overseen by Alsobrooks when she was the top prosecutor for Prince George’s County about a decade ago included significantly reduced plea deals for violent crimes, including for a defendant who allegedly committed another violent crime.
When she was a staff attorney in the same office earlier in her career, several defendants she prosecuted received plea deals and later became repeat violent offenders. The top elected prosecutor at the time had the final say over the plea deals.
Most of the guilty pleas in her prosecutorial career resulted in little or no jail time with suspended sentences for many defendants due to reduced charges. The majority of the cases stretch back more than two decades to her early career prosecuting crime in the suburban Maryland county that borders Washington, D.C.
Her Republican opponent, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, has accused her of enabling higher crime rates than nearby counties. He has sought to make her record on the issue a flashpoint in the competitive race that is key to Democrats retaining their Senate majority, as polls have shown an increasing number of Maryland voters concerned about crime. Alsobrooks supporters have countered by noting elevated murder rates in Baltimore and beyond under Hogan’s back-to-back terms.
Hogan and national Republicans, whom he has otherwise tried to distance himself from in the deep-blue state, accuse Democrats such as Alsobrooks of fostering violent crime and repeat offenders by pushing weaker sentences or policies.
“County Executive Alsobrooks’ long track record of being soft on crime and prioritizing leniency over accountability speaks for itself,” Hogan campaign spokesman Blake Kernen said.
Crime in Prince George’s County fell when Alsobrooks was the elected state’s attorney, the county’s top prosecutor and law enforcement official, from 2011-2018, but climbed since December 2018 when Alsobrooks was elected as county executive. She was the assistant state’s attorney from 1997-2002, a nonelected position in which she was the lead courtroom prosecutor on various cases that resulted in plea deals.
The Alsobrooks campaign directed the Washington Examiner to an extensive list of public comments she previously made as state’s attorney, in which she expressed regret over juries not returning guilty verdicts or grand juries failing to indict, criticized judges for lenient sentences, sought life sentences, fought domestic violence and child abuse, and helped bust a sex trafficking ring. The campaign also highlighted 10 times Alsobrooks testified before the state legislature for increased sentences or mandatory minimums and cited an interview from January 2023 in which Hogan praised Alsobrooks’s handling of crime.
“When Angela was in charge of the state’s attorney’s office, she oversaw a 50% reduction in violent crime,” Alsobrooks campaign spokesman Connor Lounsbury said. “She’s the only person in this race who’s prosecuted rapists, murderers, and gang members.”
Plea deals are routine for prosecutors, who weigh the evidence, the defendant’s criminal history, and the severity of alleged crimes to build a case. Criminal charges rarely end up in trial, a mere 2% of cases nationwide at the federal level, so prosecutors have broad discretion to offer plea deals on lesser charges to more efficiently close cases and recommend prison sentences for such crimes.
Judges in Prince George’s County have the final say on whether the terms of a plea deal are honored or whether they are used as a sentencing recommendation. Prince George’s County also has sentencing guidelines based on the charge. And in cases where Alsobrooks was a staff county attorney, known as an assistant state’s attorney, she did not have final control over plea deals. That power is afforded to the Prince George’s County state’s attorney, an elected position she did not hold until later in her legal career.
“Plea deals are an advantage to the public because if everyone goes to trial, it clogs up the court system more than it already is — if it’s a fair plea deal,” said Paul Kramer, a criminal defense attorney and former deputy U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland. He noted he was not familiar with Alsobrooks.
“For prior records, the prosecution, rightly so, should get a little higher sentence as opposed to someone without a record,” Kramer said. “But we can disagree on what’s a fair sentence.”
Violent crimes as state’s attorney
In 2015, when Alsobrooks was state’s attorney, Danny Harvell, 26, faced charges of second-degree attempted murder, two for assault, and others related to drugs for fleeing from police in a car that resulted in an officer being dragged and injured. A plea deal for first-degree assault and an unrelated prior drug charge resulted in an effective four-year prison sentence, with 21 years of a 25-year sentence being suspended. Harvell also received five years of supervised probation.
“I would like to be clear that injuring those who protect and serve our community is unacceptable,” Alsobrooks said at the time. “I hope this sends a message that this behavior will not be tolerated.”
Harvell served under two years behind bars. In July 2018, he was charged with drug crimes and driving without a license, for which he received unsupervised probation for six months. He was charged again in October 2019 for second-degree assault but resulted in a stet, a postponement of charges that allows defendants to complete certain conditions but can still be prosecuted if terms are violated within three years.
Kramer said stets are offered for varying reasons, including a lack of evidence from the state, the degree of the defendant’s perceived guilt, and any prior criminal record. Offering a stet is akin to a prosecutor saying, “‘Behave yourself, and in three years we can take away the fact you were charged,’” Kramer said.
As state’s attorney, Alsobrooks oversaw other violent and high-profile cases in which plea deals for lesser crimes and sentences were reached, as previously reported by the Washington Examiner.
In 2012, a man accepted a plea deal for beating a 72-year-old with a baseball bat after trying to rob him once Alsobrooks downgraded his first- and second-degree attempted murder charges to first-degree assault.
In another case that same year, Alsobrooks’s office struck a plea deal with a teenager who stabbed his 92-year-old neighbor to death. The teenager was sentenced to 60 years for second-degree murder after Prince George’s Deputy State’s Attorney Tara Harrison said prosecutors lacked evidence for a first-degree conviction but added that the sentence showed “justice was done.” The elderly woman’s granddaughter vowed to fight his eligibility for parole when the time comes.
Repeat offenders
Earlier in her career as assistant state’s attorney, several cases Alsobrooks prosecuted in the early 2000s involved reduced sentences for violent offenders despite prior criminal records. Others went on to allegedly commit additional crimes.
Court records list Alsobrooks as the lead prosecutor in each case, but the terms of any plea deals and sentencing recommendations or agreements would have been left to the discretion of the state’s attorney.
In 2002, Derrick Andre Cobb pleaded guilty to four of at least 14 charges, including two for theft and two for second-degree assault. He was sentenced to a nearly 30-year prison sentence, which was entirely suspended, along with 20 years of supervised probation.
Cobb’s prior criminal record included charges for drugs with intent to distribute, carrying a concealed deadly weapon, and theft related to a bizarre case that police said involved “snatching girls’ socks.”
In 2002, Daniel Rector Jr. served less than two years of a three-year sentence for pleading guilty to one second-degree assault charge after initially being charged with two. While in prison, he was charged with multiple counts of assaulting a Department of Corrections employee. After his release, Rector was charged with malicious destruction of property in 2004 and again in 2008.
Also in 2002, Anthony Proctor, 24, pled guilty to a sex offense in the fourth degree and received a one-year suspended prison sentence and one year of unsupervised probation. He was originally charged with a third-degree sex offense and had a prior history of battery, second-degree assault, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.
Following his plea deal, Proctor was charged with domestic violence in November 2002, attempted robbery in 2003, second-degree assault in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and pleaded guilty to a DUI in 2017.
Downgrading sex crimes
In addition to Proctor, several plea deals for cases that listed Alsobrooks as the lead prosecutor when she was assistant state’s attorney involved felony sexual crimes.
In 2001, youth detention facility worker Carolyn Cooley, 44, faced more than four decades behind bars for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in her care. A guilty plea for child sexual abuse, sexual acts with a juvenile detainee, and third-degree sex offense resulted in serving about three years in prison of an 11 1/2-year sentence. The remaining time was suspended.
A 2001 plea deal with Angel Augusto Zavala for third- and fourth-degree sex offenses led to a 394-day prison sentence. Zavala was initially charged with two counts of child abuse by a parent and two charges of third-degree sex offense.
That same year, John Richard Wright pleaded guilty to two of five charges for sex offense in the fourth degree and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. All but 37 days of a yearlong prison sentence were suspended. Wright also received three years of supervised probation.
Also in 2001, Brian Clawson pleaded guilty to two of at least three charges for sex offense in the fourth degree and assault in the second degree. All but 14 days of a two-year prison sentence were suspended. He also received three years’ supervised probation. Court records show he violated parole in 2006, but details of the situation were unknown.
In 2002, Mauricio Dominguez Hernandez faced charges of attempted second-degree rape, second-degree assault, and fourth-degree sex offense but pleaded guilty only to second-degree assault. He was sentenced to less than a year in prison with 190 days suspended and two years of supervised probation.
That same year, Brandon Jackson received one year in prison with four years suspended for a third-degree sex offense guilty plea. He also received three years’ supervised probation.
Alsobrooks touts prosecutorial record
Alsobrooks has previously defended her crime record to the Washington Examiner. On the campaign trail, she has consistently highlighted her prosecutorial experience.
“The facts speak for themselves: as the chief law enforcement officer of Prince George’s County, Angela Alsobrooks oversaw a 50% decline in violent crime,” an Alsobrooks campaign spokesperson said last month. “As county executive, she’s increased the police budget by 22%. She’s proud to have opened a first-of-its-kind mental healthcare facility in the county. And on day one in the Senate, she will fight to ban assault weapons so we can combat our nation’s tragic gun violence epidemic.”
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On the airwaves, Alsobrooks has touted a 50% reduction in violent crime during her time as state’s attorney. She has not mentioned that crime spiked in the following years as county executive.
“It’s a prosecutor’s job to help keep families safe, and as state’s attorney, I did so without apology,” Alsobrooks said in a recent ad. “I believe anyone who commits a heinous crime or anyone who harms a child must be held accountable.”
