Howard Oglesby, 59 of Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced to twenty years in prison on June 4, 2019 by the Honorable Thomas G. Ross in the Circuit Court for Queen Anne’s County after being convicted of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Deputy State’s Attorney Michael “Mick” Cuches prosecuted the case on behalf of the State and secured the convictions against Mr. Oglesby.
The charges stem from a traffic stop that occurred on Friday, November 23, 2018. At approximately 4:37 am on that date, Trooper Tori Bertrand of the Maryland State Police, was on routine patrol in the area of northbound Route 301 and Warrington Farm Lane. At that time and location she observed a red SUV travelling over 100 MPH in a 55 MPH zone. Trooper Bertrand pulled the Georgia registered vehicle over on Route 301 north of Safety Drive. The driver was identified to be Howard Keith Oglesby and the passenger was idneitifed as Shawnique Bleen. Mr. Oglesby said he was driving from Georgia to visit family in Dover, Delaware. Trooper Bertrand observed Mr. Oglesby to be nervous and fidgeting while he was seated in the driver’s seat. A K9 handler, Deputy First Class Joseph Patikowski of the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office responded. A K9 scan of the vehicle resulted in a positive alert to the presence of an odor of drugs in the car.
A subsequent probable cause search of the car revealed a loaded Smith and Wesson 9 MM handgun with a round in the chamber and 16 rounds in the magazine located in the left driver’s side door compartment, two live rounds located in the center console, a black cloth zipper bag containing 12 clear plastic baggies containing almost 30 grams of marijuana, 1 clear plastic baggie containing 10.7 grams of cocaine, another clear plastic baggie containing 5.3 grams of cocaine, 4 packages of mini Ziploc baggies, 1 package of small black rubber bands, 1 white plastic spoon containing trace amounts of cocaine and two black digital scales.
A check of the serial number of the Smith and Wesson 9MM handgun revealed it to be stolen. The firearm was sent to the Maryland State Police Firearm and Toolmark Unit where it was test fired and found to be operable. The drugs were sent to the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division where they were tested and confirmed to be marijuana and cocaine.
Mr. Oglesby was convicted of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and possession a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime on April 2, 2019. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered and sentencing was deferred until June 4, 2019. At sentencing Deputy State’s Attorney Mick Cuches sought a mandatory minimum penalty for the firearm offense and further argued for the lengthy prison sentence due to the facts of the events on November 23rd and Mr. Oglesby’s significant criminal record dating back forty years to 1979. Judge Ross sentenced Mr. Oglesby to twenty years in the Division of Corrections on each offense concurrent to each other, and sentenced Mr. Oglesby to the mandatory five year minimum sentence on the firearm offense.