DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
District of Maryland

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Rod J. Rosenstein
, United States Attorney
Contact: Vickie E. LeDuc

Man Admits to Federal Arson During 2015 Baltimore Riots

Criminal Set Fire to a Food Market, After Looting a Liquor Store and Assaulting the Owner; Caught Because Police and Prosecutors Took the Time to Review Surveillance Footage

Baltimore, Maryland – Trevon Green, age 23, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty on July 18, 2016, to the arson of a Baltimore food market in connection with the April 27, 2015, riots in Baltimore. Green also admitted that he participated in the looting of a liquor store and assaulted the store’s owner.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Maryland State Fire Marshal Brian Geraci; Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby.

"Trevon Green was not a protester, he was a criminal who enjoyed committing gratuitous violence," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. "He looted a liquor store and kicked the defenseless store owner in the head, then he set fire to a food market. We caught him because police and prosecutors spent time reviewing recordings from cameras throughout the city."

On April 27, 2015, riots and widespread looting erupted in Baltimore following the funeral of Freddie Gray. According to his plea agreement, Green participated in the rioting. In the later afternoon of April 27, 2015, Green engaged in the looting at a liquor store located in the 2200 block of W. North Avenue. Green is captured on video leaving the store with a box of merchandise from the store. Green stopped briefly to have a conversation with a woman outside the liquor store. One of the owners of the store, who had previously been punched in the face, was crouching near his vehicle, just behind where Green was standing, watching the looting of his store. After Green was done speaking with the woman, he turned, and without provocation or speaking a word, Green kicked the store owner in the face. As a result, the owner crumpled to the street, suffering an injury to his face.

Just prior to 8:25 p.m., Green proceeded to the market located in the 1500 block of North Monroe Street in Baltimore. Green was recorded on cell phone video with two other men near the broken front window of the market. Green is recorded telling the other men to light the store on fire, as one of the men lit the contents of a garbage can on fire, then threw the can with its contents ablaze through the broken front window. Others depicted on the video confirmed that the store was on fire and the video captured flames in the front of the store. On the video recording, Green states that he and the others were setting the store on fire for Freddie Gray. The damage to the store from the fire and looting is at least $334,894.16. As part of

his plea agreement, Green has agreed to the entry of a restitution order in the full amount of the victims’ losses.

During the investigation, ATF released video from the arson of the liquor store in an attempt to identify the perpetrators of the arson, as well as the assaults on the owner of the store. (link to the video: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/428956/assault-true-religion#.ViU1Wv3oteU) Multiple tips were received from the public identifying Green as one of the individuals assaulting the liquor store owner, which assisted law enforcement in identifying Green in the video from the subsequent arson of the market.

Green and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Green will be sentenced to 70 months in prison. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz has scheduled sentencing for August 22, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. Green remains detained.

The investigation into arsons that occurred on April 27, 2015, is continuing. Anyone with information is urged to call the ATF hotline, 1-888-ATF-FIRE (1-888-283-3473). ATF continues to offer a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any individual responsible for these incidents.

Federal prosecutors previously have charged four other defendants for arson crimes committed during the Baltimore riots on April 27, 2015. Darius Raymond Stewart, age 22, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to malicious destruction of property by fire, arising from the arson of a liquor store. Stewart is scheduled to be sentenced on August 3, 2016. Gregory Lee Butler, Jr., a/k/a Greg Baly, age 22, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to the federal indictment charging him with obstruction of firefighters during a civil disorder, and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 20, 2016. Donta Betts, age 20, of Baltimore, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for making a destructive device in connection with the April 27, 2015, riots in Baltimore and, in an unrelated case, for discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on July 2, 2015. Raymon Carter, age 25, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty to the federal crime of rioting, including the arson of the CVS Pharmacy on April 27, 2015, and was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $500,000.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the ATF, Office of the State Fire Marshal, Baltimore Police Department, and Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Judson T. Mihok, who is prosecuting the case.

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Baltimore Field Division