A federal judge sentenced two men convicted in a murder-for-hire scheme to life in prison Friday.
Solothal Thomas, also known as “Itchy Man” and Edward Countess, were convicted in June on five counts relating to their participation in a 2001 slaying in Baltimore County that involved shooting a man 15 times to get back at him for robbing a high-profile drug dealer.
U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake called the killing that led to Thomas? conviction “cold-blooded, ” and described the sentence as “what the statute required, what the advisory guidelines required and what justice required.”
Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said Blake?s sentence sends a message to Baltimore City residents.
“Whenever you get into a situation where people get away with murder, they are encouraged to keep committing murders,” he said. “This sends a message that we do not tolerate murder in Maryland. The state will go after you, and the federal government will go after you.”
Baltimore City Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm proclaimed the sentencing “a great day for the law-abiding residents of Baltimore” and praised federal prosecutors for ensuring that “Solothal Thomas will spend the rest of his natural life in prison.”
Thomas and Countess refused to participate in their own trial, arguing that they were not subject to the jurisdiction of the federal courts.
Prosecutors claimed that on Oct. 2, 2001, Thomas and Countess ambushed Jesse Williams, 33, in the 8200 block of Courtland Manor Road in Baltimore County as he got in his car to go to work and shot him 15 times, killing him.
Baltimore drug dealer Tyree Stewart, who testified against Thomas and Countess, ordered the killing in retaliation for a 1999 robbery for a fee of $10,000, prosecutors said.
Between 2001 and 2003, Stewart was at the helm of a marijuana ring that included two former Central Booking employees and distributed more than 10 tons of marijuana, according to prosecutors.
Thomas and Countess, both 30 and of Baltimore, were convicted of murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit a murder-for-hire.
The Associated Press contributed to
