Two Baltimore Drug Dealers Get Life for Killing “Snitch”

“The Wire” Depicted Life of the Drug Dealer

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
In the streets of Baltimore, which have become legendary thanks to such television programs as “The Wire”, snitching has become a big issue.

Law enforcement has tried to make it good thing, a thing that helps society. The streets have made it a bad thing, a sign of weakness,a sign of bowing to the man, of selling out.

This past week U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sent Baltimore drug dealers Melvin Gilbert, 34, and James “Miami” Dinkins , 36, off to prison for life for the Thanksgiving 2006 murder of cooperating government witness (aka “snitch) John Dowery, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A federal jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the death penalty.

The two men were also convicted of killing Shannon Jemmison, who they suspected was ratting on them. Dinkins was also convicted of a third murder and another non-fatal shooting.

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein did his best this week to give cooperating witness John Dowery a public shout out for his efforts.

“John Dowery stood up to violent criminals and tried to make the city a better place for his children,” Rosenstein said in a prepared statement. “Whatever is the most serious punishment available, that is what you will get if you attack a witness.”

The warning sounds daunting. Unfortunately, it’s not likely to put an end to killings of snitches in Baltimore, or elsewhere, for that matter.