BALTIMORE COUNTY MAN CHARGED
WITH ILLEGALLY POSSESSING MACHINE GUN AND
SHORT-BARRELED SHOTGUN

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that charges were filed in Howard County Circuit Court against David Martin Smith, 49, of 2142 Riding Crop Way, Baltimore County, as contained in a three-count criminal information. Smith is charged with two counts of Possession of a Machine Gun for Aggressive Purpose, and one count of Illegal Possession of a Short-Barreled Shotgun. It is alleged that Smith illegally possessed these weapons on November 29, 2001 in Howard County.

The charges were filed as a result of Attorney General Curran’s illegal gun prosecution initiative, Operation Crime Gun.

Smith is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The maximum penalty for a conviction for Possession of a Machine Gun for Aggressive Purpose is 10 years incarceration, and the maximum penalty for possessing a short-barreled shotgun is five years incarceration and a $5,000 fine.

This case was investigated by Baltimore County’s Firearms Violence Team, and will be prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General, Special Crimes Unit, Criminal Investigations Division. Funding for Operation Crime Gun comes from a grant received from the Governor’s Office on Crime Control and Prevention.

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