Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Baltimore, Maryland – On January 12, 2023, Malachi Carter-Bey, age 38, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty to federal charges of illegally possessing a loaded firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, specifically Curtis Bay Elementary-Middle School.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, in the early morning hours of December 26, 2020, a Baltimore Police officer found what he thought was an abandoned Acura SUV running at the corner of Elmtree Street and Pennington Avenue in the Curtis Bay neighborhood of Baltimore. The officer approached the car and saw that Carter-Bey and a passenger were asleep in the car. Using a flashlight, the officer saw a large black revolver entirely exposed on the driver’s seat between the driver-side door and Carter-Bey. Once back-up arrived, Carter-Bey and the passenger were removed from the car and the revolver, a .357-caliber revolver loaded with six rounds of ammunition, was also recovered.

Carter-Bey admitted that he knew that he possessed the firearm within 1,000 feet of the grounds of a school zone, specifically, Curtis Bay Elementary-Middle School.

U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for February 22, 2023 at 2:30 p.m.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Logan Hayes and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Moore, who are prosecuting the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.