FORMER BALTIMORE POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED FOR SELLING ECSTASY

A Graceland Park man who was convicted of selling Ecstasy in December
received a 22-month sentence last week in U.S. District Court.

John Harold Wilson, 28, of Bethlehem Avenue could have gotten a much
harsher sentence from U.S District Judge Frederick N. Smalkin but for two
factors in his favor.

Wilson, a seven-year veteran of the Baltimore City Police Department at the
time of his arrest, benefited from cooperating with authorities and by
being arrested in December 2000, months before Congress raised the
penalties for selling Ecstasy.

"He provided substantial assistance with law enforcement," said a source at
U.S. District Court who asked to not be identified. "The judge made a
departure to get him into that range."

Had Wilson not cooperated he could have received a sentence ranging from 46
to 57 months.

Information provided by Wilson helped convict three Fells Point men of
federal money-laundering charges, according to court documents.

Wilson was fired last year after a city police trial board determined that
he had lied to police investigators who checked into a complaint that
Wilson failed to properly investigate a call.

That came after he was indicted in federal court on Dec. 7, 2000, and
charged with conspiracy to distribute Ecstasy.

During a raid on Wilson's home on Dec. 6, 2000, federal authorities and
police allegedly discovered about 30,000 Ecstasy tablets, two rifles, five
handguns and $7,500 in cash.

The investigation had begun in September 2000, with surveillance of
Wilson's home and wiretaps on his telephone and cell phone.

The wiretaps caught Wilson discussing the sale of about 15,000 tablets a
week and planning to make more of the drug, according to court documents
from his indictment.

Wilson was convicted on Dec. 12 of conspiracy to distribute Ecstasy,
according to court documents.

Ecstasy is the common name for a type of amphetamine popular among
teen-agers and college students because it can produce positive feelings,
empathy for others and extreme relaxation, according to information on the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Web site. Ecstasy also is said to
suppress the need to eat, drink and sleep and must be created in a laboratory.

According to the DEA, Ecstasy can cause nausea, hallucinations, chills,
sweating, increases in body temperature, tremors, muscle clenching,
dehydration and blurred vision. Overdoses can be fatal, causing heart
failure and heat stroke.