Baltimore firefighter faces criminal charges, job consequences

Our Baltimore readers may think that a criminal charge is a terrible thing, which it is. However, in addition to a criminal charge, some people are also faced with the loss of their job. A convicted drunk driver can lose a commercial driver’s license and thereby a job driving a truck. A bartender can lose his or her job for selling alcohol to minors. A store clerk can lose a job for selling cigarettes to minors. And a firefighter can lose his or her job for a suspended sentence of solicitation.

The loss of a job is a very real potential for a Baltimore firefighter. Soon after the 29-year-old firefighter was charged with multiple prostitution-related charges, he was suspended without pay.

The 29-year-old was charged with running a prostitution ring out of a house in conjunction with another man and as many as 25 women. The 29-year-old didn’t deny having the house, but claimed it was for friends and others to relax at after the bars closed.

The criminal charges resulted in probation before judgment on a single prostitution charge. When the criminal case ended, the inside investigation began. The fire department uses different standards of evidence, compared to the criminal investigation, but essentially they are looking at everything that the prosecutor looked at during the criminal investigation.

The job consequences could be anything from a full reinstatement with back pay to termination. If history is any guide, the consequences may be somewhere between those two options.

Source: The Baltimore Sun, “Police: Baltimore firefighter ran sex ring on the side,” Kevin Rector, Aug. 9, 2012

At our Baltimore criminal defense law office we represent individuals charged with felonies and misdemeanors including criminal charges of solicitation or prostitution such as those described in this post.