Solothal “Itchy Man” Thomas and Raeshio “Goodie” Rice were known as two of the baddest men on Baltimore?s streets. Now, their names are simply billboard material.
In sarcastic, bold red billboards recently posted around Baltimore, federal prosecutors are warning other men to avoid the fates of Thomas and Rice.
“Solothal ?Itchy Man? Thomas got life in prison for carrying a gun. Wonder what his new nickname is?” one billboard states.
Another brags of a seizure of Rice?s car.
“Raeshio ?Goodie? Rice got 27 years in prison for carrying a gun,” that billboard reads. “Anyone need a used Bentley?”
Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said the billboards are part of the Maryland EXILE program, which intends to curb gun use by combining local and federal law enforcement anti-gun efforts.
“They were chosen because of a number of issues, including how high profile they were as criminals in the community and how significant their cases were,” he said. “Both these men were recognized criminals who carried on their criminal schemes for some time and needed to be stopped. The purpose of the billboards is deterrence.”
Approximately 30 billboards are being put up, mostly in Baltimore City and Prince George?s County, with $75,000 in federal grant money from Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Thomas, 30, was convicted in June on five counts related to his participation in a 2001 slaying in Baltimore County that involved shooting a man 15 times to get back at him for robbing a drug dealer. Thomas was sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutors said on Oct. 2, 2001, Thomas and others ambushed Jesse Williams, 33, in Baltimore County as he got into his car to go to work and shot him 15 times, killing him.
Baltimore drug dealer Tyree Stewart 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.
Rice, 34, of Baltimore, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy and drug conspiracy charges from operating a 10-year narcotics-trafficking enterprise.
From 1995 through 2004, Rice and his brother, Howard, conspired with others to operate a drug gang responsible for distributing large quantities of cocaine and heroin in Northwest Baltimore, and multiple contract murders, prosecutors said.
So far, 11 billboards are posted in the city and one in the county.
