First of all, allow me introduce myself. My name is David Mohr. I am a Sergeant assigned to the District 1 Station located at 5000 Rhode Island Ave. Hyattsville, MD 20781. The phone number to my commander’s office is 301-699-2626. Feel free to call and verify my identity. I am Stephanie Mohr’s younger brother.

My sister, Corporal Stephanie Mohr #1927, was a Canine handler assigned to our Special Operations Division. She was a handler in training during the incident in question. Stephanie and her training officer were called to assist the Takoma Park Police Department with a call for service. Takoma Park had been hit with a number of nighttime commercial burglaries, which were generally roof jobs. They had an undercover officer hiding on a rooftop in the vicinity of the burglaries. The officer observed two individuals climb onto the roof of an adjacent building and attempt to gain entry. At that time additional officers responded to set a perimeter. Takoma Park requested that the county police send a K-9 unit to assist. Takoma Park is a smaller municipal agency that did not have a K-9 unit. My sister responded to the scene and spoke to the scene commander, Sgt. Bond from the Takoma Park Police Dept. As units maintained a perimeter, the Maryland State Police Aviation Division responded to assist with aerial operations. The MSP helicopter gave verbal commands to the suspects and ordered them to the ground. As the two Hispanic males got to the ground they were uncooperative and would not listen to the officers. The suspects then fled down a dark alley that my sister knew was not covered by perimeter units. At that time, my sister deployed her K-9 unit which made apprehension on both suspects.

The arrest was handled by, then, Takoma Park officer Brian Rich, now FBI agent. The defendants both plead guilty to the burglary charges in court. Both defendants were illegal aliens, convicted felons and both had been previously deported and were back in the country again. After their convictions, both were deported again. Case closed right? WRONG.

Sgt. Bond, of the Takoma Park P. D. was being investigated by the FBI for civil rights violations against homeless people and Hispanic individuals, lodged by fellow officers on his agency who did not like him. During that time our agency was in the spotlight after a number of high profile civil cases against our K-9 unit. The Justice Department initiated an investigation into the K-9 procedures used by our agency. Sgt. Bond cut a deal with the Feds. He stated that he would testify against my sister, her training officer and Brian Rich in return for a plea deal with dramatically shorted jail time. The incident happened in September 1995. The Justice Department indicted my sister on the last day before the statute of limitations expired, September 20, 2000. She found out she had been indicted when we all returned from a family vacation. There was a message on her answering machine from her lawyer.

The family was confident when the case finally went to trial. All three officers were charged with depravation of civil rights under the color of law and conspiracy to commit civil rights violations. The trial was a train wreck. Brian Rich was acquitted of all charges, the training officer was acquitted of civil rights violations and Stephanie was acquitted of the conspiracy charge. A hung jury was declared against the training officer for the charge of conspiracy and against Steph for the civil rights violations. It was hung 11-1 for both in favor of acquittal. The feds charged them again and we went back for a second trial. This time it was totally different. It turned into a total circus.

The prosecutors brought a bunch of totally unrelated cases into the trial in an attempt to defame my sister’s character. It worked. In one case they brought in, (and in my opinion, the most damaging) d units looking for a wanted suspect. My sister stood on the porch with her dog sitting quietly at her feet while the suspect’s mother sat across the porch from her. The woman got on the stand and bawled and sobbed. She claimed that she was intimidated by the dog and was in fear for her life. When asked if she could identify the officer that intimidated her she stated that she could not, yet my sister was sitting fifteen feet away. The whole line of testimony should have been thrown out but was allowed by the judge. The entire second trial was run as a character assassination against my sister. It worked. Her training officer was acquitted of the charges and my sister was found guilty. The sentence for her crime was only 18 months in jail; BUT, under the federal sentencing guidelines, they used things called sentence enhancements. Things such as being a law enforcement officer, use of a deadly weapon (the dog), the fact that in the judge’s opinion she perjured herself. (If she testified that she did not do it, yet the jury found her guilty then she obviously lied. Judge’s words, not mine.) These enhancements brought her sentence up to the maximum of 10 years in prison. She must do 85%. For those keeping track, the earliest she can get out is in 8 ½ years. We filed an appeal and lost after her lawyer changed his mind. We filed another appeal on August 5, 2004 reference the legality of the sentence enhancements. The judge said she would rule shortly. We are still waiting. Funny thing is, in the federal system there is no requirement on how quickly a ruling must be made. The judge can sit on this appeal for the rest of my sister’s sentence and we can do nothing about it. And no new appeals can be filed until this one is adjudicated. I would also like to add, that these felon illegals, were flown back from out of the country to testify, one of them had received 10 stitches from the bite, they were then deported and most likely have made their way back convicted crimes again, while she sits in jail doing 10 years.

Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the federal sentencing enhancement guidelines are unconstitutional. It did not rule whether it would apply to future cases or would be applied to older cases as well. That case is now before the Supreme Court.

My sister is a mother of a seven year old son. He was three when she was incarcerated. She has missed so many developmental milestones in his life. Since she has been in, his father has left her, remarried and now has another child. She has lost the home she loved. Her ex-husband who, she was still on very good terms with, a fellow Prince George’s County Police officer, was shot and killed in the line of duty on her son’s 6th birthday.

So, to answer your concerns, yes the fundraiser you received is a valid and truthful fundraiser. The Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund is a legitimate charity that raises money to pay the legal costs associated with law enforcement officers who are wrongly accused of criminal charges related to their duties. The LELDF screens officers’ cases to see if they fit the criteria that they have set forth in regard to the officers being wrongly convicted. You can find out more about the LELDF by looking at their website www.LELDF.org.
If you would like to find out more information about her case, feel free to look at the Washington Post’s website as well. The department, her case and her trial were thoroughly covered by the Washington Post. But please remember if you read the Washington Post’s version, the reporter hates the PGPD and they write their stories to sell newspapers.

Please pass this on this correspondence to others. The more people that hear her story, the better.

If you would like to contact me for more information, feel free to. I will be glad to talk with you. Until she gets released, I will continue to pray and be thankful for support from concerned citizens such as you. I miss my sister and hope she can come home and be with her son soon.
Contributions can also be made to David Mohr, parents have set up an account in her name.

Sgt. David Mohr #2290
Prince George's County Police Department
District I Station (Hyattsville)
5000 Rhode Island Ave
Hyattsville, Md 20784
301-699-2632 (station)
301-699-2636 (desk)