Initial appearances are typically not much to talk about, but Darryl De Sousa’s first hearing had the added theater of the division of that thin blue line.
Walking up to the federal courthouse almost in lockstep were the Gun Trace Task Force prosecutors followed closely by former Baltimore Commissioner Darryl De Sousa.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo wise and Derek Hines flanked the newly appointed U.S. Attorney Robert Hur and De Sousa was surrounded by an armada of family and then his two attorneys.
Inside the courthouse, De Sousa was read the charges against him; three counts of willfully not filing his taxes for three years.
Baltimore’s former top cop faces 3 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
The judge did not take De Sousa into custody but as part of his pretrial release, the former commissioner will have to surrender his passport, any weapons or firearms and remain living at his current address.
The whole hearing took about 10 minutes and afterward each side was about as curt as they were on the way in.
"We don't have a comment right now,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Hur, “It is an open criminal matter."
De Sousa's attorney Gerard Martin also had no comment on his way out of court and De Sousa himself, who walked out well after the attorneys today, had nothing to add.
Both staying tight lipped as federal case against the former Baltimore Police commissioner begins to work its way through the court.
