Details about this story

• Source: Baltimore Sun
• Date: March 16, 2008
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Josh Mitchell
• Topics: Crime , Health Care
• Data Types: State Data
• Description/Excerpt: Nearly $1.8 million from the fund has been awarded to drug dealers, violent offenders and other criminals since 2003, according to a Sun analysis of thousands of records obtained through the Maryland Public Information Act. In Baltimore alone, awards went to at least 147 convicted felons like Gaskins. Awards helped bury a carjacker, a Bloods gang member who was shot to death by a fellow Blood, and a drug dealer killed after a dispute at a strip club. Even prisoners have been helped: A sex offender was compensated for medical bills after being assaulted in prison, and burial expenses were paid to the families of two convicted murderers.