Marijuana Policy Project

Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo and his wife, Trinity Tomsic, were deemed "innocent victims of drug traffickers" and "the apparent victims of a local drug ring" by county Police Chief Melvin C. High in a statement released Friday.

Prince George's County Police said two people were arrested in a drug parcel delivery scheme investigation in Berwyn Heights, in which the parcel delivered to Tomsic, the mayor's wife, was included. The sting netted more than 517 pounds of marijuana, with a street value exceeding $3 million.

Prince George's County Police and Prince George's County Sheriff officers raided Calvo's home July 29. The raid was due to a 32-pound package of marijuana sent to Tomsic via FedEx. In the raid, the mayor's two dogs were killed.

High said he called Calvo to "express my sorrow and regret for that and for the loss of the family's beloved dogs."

Calls to Cpl. Mario Ellis, spokesman for County Sheriff Michael Jackson, were not returned by press time.

Cpl. Stephen Pacheco, a Prince George's County Police Department spokesman, said the department had no comment regarding an apology to Calvo's family.

"I still find it troubling they refused to apologize for doing anything wrong and their willingness to defend the indefensible," Calvo said. "Are they basically saying this type of thing is standard common practice? It doesn't excuse the litany of mistakes that have been made. What they've said to every officer on the force is that this is OK."

Calvo said he could not understand the department's refusal to acknowledge the existence of a no-knock warrant, which he said they did not have at the time of the raid on his home. According to amended 2005 Maryland House bill 577, a no-knock warrant allows officers to enter a premises without knocking, providing there is reasonable suspicion that evidence might be destroyed or an officer's life might be endangered.

"We object to the way the warrant was executed. What I'd like to see is changes to the system so that this type of thing never happens again. We don't fault the police for investigating this box. We are faulting their rush to judgment. They are not allowed to rewrite the constitution," Calvo said.

Calvo's attorney, Jason Levine, of Greenbelt's Joseph Greenwald & Laake, P.A., said Calvo has not yet decided to take legal action.

"It's not out of the realm of possibility, but it's not what the family is focusing on at this time," Levine said.

In an Aug. 7 press conference, Calvo said he asked the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department to investigate the raid on his home and the larger question of policies and practices of county law enforcement agencies in executing warrants.

He said he hopes that it will be the "basis of reform to the system."

College Park resident Aloysius Doyle attended the press conference, as he has family members who live in Berwyn Heights. He said police grossly mishandled the entire raid.

"I think it's a disgrace. A first-grader could have handled it much better," Doyle said.