ECSTASY SUPPLIER GETS 22-MONTH TERM

Former Officer Avoided Stiffer Punishment By Aiding Police Inquiries

A former Baltimore police officer who became a major local supplier of the
club drug Ecstasy while he was suspended from the force in 2000 for
disciplinary problems was sentenced yesterday to nearly two years in
federal prison.

John H. Wilson, 28, a seven-year veteran who said he "lived and breathed"
police work, got two key breaks in his drug case in U.S. District Court in
Baltimore that kept him from facing a much stiffer punishment.

By chance, Wilson's arrest in December 2000 occurred just months before
Congress sharply raised the penalties for selling the chemical drug,
methylene-dioxmethamphetamine, better known as Ecstasy, amid growing
national concerns about the drug's use by teen-agers and college students
at late-night dance parties.

Wilson, who was convicted in December, also avoided a stiffer sentence by
giving authorities detailed information on a range of illegal activity in
the city. Most substantially, a federal prosecutor said yesterday,
information provided by Wilson led to the federal money laundering
convictions this year of three men linked to the Ritz Cabaret nightclub in
Fells Point.

In handing down a 22-month prison sentence yesterday, U.S. District Judge
Frederic N. Smalkin noted Wilson's "extraordinary" cooperation with
authorities. Smalkin, who also presided over the separate nightclub case,
said Wilson's help "resulted in getting off the streets not only people who
had very little regard for the law but also the ability to commit further
crimes."

Wilson, former officer in the Southeastern District, told the judge that he
loved his work upholding the law and was deeply sorry for his slide into
the drug trade that cost him his career.

"I consider myself a pretty verbose person," Wilson said. "And the emotions
I have right now go beyond words, even beyond human comprehension."

Wilson and three other men were charged in December 2000 with operating an
area Ecstasy ring, which police dismantled using confidential informants,
surveillance at Wilson's home in the 1300 block of Bethlehem Ave. and
wiretaps on Wilson's home and cellular phones.

A police search of Wilson's home after his arrest turned up 30,000 Ecstasy
tablets, each with a street value of $20 to $30. Investigators also said
Wilson was conspiring to build an in-house laboratory to manufacturer
Ecstasy pills. That venture, which never was launched, could have generated
hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Congress enacted tougher penalties last spring for people found guilty of
trafficking in or manufacturing Ecstasy, putting the drug in the same
sentencing categories as cocaine or heroin. The new guidelines could have
doubled Wilson's sentence, but they did not apply in his case because he
was charged before the new rules were adopted.

In court yesterday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip S. Jackson said Wilson's
sentence should reflect his leadership role in the drug ring and his plans
to expand into manufacturing the drug.

"He was trying to more or less create a factory," Jackson said. "He was
crowing on the phone about soon they would have this factory up and be able
to flood the market" with Ecstasy.

But prosecutors acknowledged that, after his arrest, Wilson quickly agreed
to cooperate with authorities and provided a wealth of detailed, critical
information about criminal activity, particularly in South Baltimore.
Wilson's attorney, Howard Margulies, said his client provided investigators
with more than 40 names, addresses and nicknames -- details only a former
officer could provide.

Wilson called police work his "identity," saying in court yesterday: "It
was my life. I lived and breathed it. ... As far as I was concerned, it was
the greatest job on Earth."

He joined the city Police Department in 1993, and he said his troubles
started two years later when he said he faced internal retribution for
reporting corruption problems. In a lengthy explanation about the inner
working of the department, Wilson said in court that he thought his
suspension in 2000 for insubordination could be traced to those earlier
problems.

While suspended, Wilson went on a paid medical leave. He was fired after
his arrest on drug charges.

Wilson declined to comment after his sentencing. In court, he said he hoped
that, after completing his prison term, he will find work with the National
Guard, return to school "and try to get back a little of what I've lost."