FORMER OFFICER ORDERED TO PRISON Fullwood Sentenced To More Than 8 Years In Drug Dealing Case; 'I Need To Be Punished' A federal judge sentenced former Baltimore police officer James Scott Fullwood yesterday to more than eight years in prison for transporting and holding cocaine for a major city drug ring. Fullwood, 35, of White Marsh, apologized to U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis, acknowledging that he had done a "terrible thing" and vowing not to stray from the law again. "I'm here to be punished, and I need to be punished - I'm not denying anything," Fullwood said during a short hearing in federal court in Baltimore. "I've embarrassed my family and all the people I worked with." Fullwood spent 13 years as a city officer, most recently working in the Southeastern District. He resigned in March, two months after he was arrested by federal authorities in a sting operation. Court records indicate Fullwood was paid $500 for every kilogram of cocaine he transported or held for the drug organization authorities say was operated by William E. "Uncle Bill" Bickford Jr. of Baltimore. Fullwood, a Dundalk High School graduate who spent six years in the Air National Guard, had been recruited to the illegal narcotics work by Vincent M. Magliano, authorities said. Defense attorney Donald H. Feige yesterday described Magliano as a longtime friend of Fullwood's who led him down the wrong path. Feige said of Fullwood: "He's a good person. He made a mistake in his life. But he has expressed remorse." Federal prosecutors say Bickford's ring regularly received shipments of between 5 and 7 kilograms from a Miami-based supplier. Court papers say the Baltimore organization sold about $6 million worth of cocaine a year. Fullwood was arrested across the street from the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop on Bel Air Road in January after accepting a bag of cocaine from an informant working for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency who had led authorities to Fullwood. Before Fullwood, the last significant drug case involving a city officer was against Erick McCrary, a former Eastern District officer, who was sentenced in May 1998 to five years in federal prison for conspiring with a drug lord to abduct and kill a narcotics dealer. In court yesterday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane M. Erisman said Fullwood's conviction and sentence should help restore the public's faith in the system. "This is truly a sad day," Erisman said. "It's a sad day for Mr. Fullwood and his family. It's a sad day for law enforcement, and it's a sad day for the community." Fullwood pleaded guilty in July. He had faced a minimum sentence of 10 years, but the term was reduced because he had no criminal record and because he cooperated with authorities after his arrest. Garbis sentenced him to 98 months and also ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service when he is released. "I know this was a mistake, and it's not like you," Garbis said to Fullwood. Bickford and three other members of his organization also have pleaded guilty to federal drug charges. Magliano was charged earlier this month with one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He has pleaded not guilty.
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