Jack Johnson corruption probe: Three Prince George's officers arrested, along with owners of Tick Tock liquors

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P.G. County Police Chief Chief Roberto Hylton said he's

Nov. 16 1:49 p.m. Updated with information about the ongoing detention hearings, including that the wife of the TIck Tock owner is being held without bond.

Three Prince George's County Police officers allegedly conspired with six others in illegal schemes involving cigarettes, alcohol and cocaine in Maryland and Virginia, according to two federal indictments unsealed Monday.

"These individuals are just bad people and they need to go away," said P.G. County Police Chief Roberto Hylton, who would not comment on whether he expected more of his officers to be arrested, and repeatedly referenced problems with "greed" within the department.

There's nothing in the indictment directly linking any of the nine defendants, including the officers, to the recently arrested P.G. County Executive Jack Johnson, but the arrests all appear to be part of a broad federal probe of corruption in county government.

In a news conference Monday afternoon, Hylton said he's "outraged" by the three officers who "tarnished" their badges because of "greed and gain." The officers have been suspended without pay.

Prince George's County Executive-elect Rushern Baker, meanwhile, insisted in his first public comments since Johnson's arrest that the scandal wouldn't distract his government.

"Despite the recent events, these are not sad days in Prince George’s County," said Baker, who will be sworn in Dec. 6. "Unfortunate? Yes. But the alleged acts of a few in no way should deter the direction of all Prince George's County, who are ready, eager, and I would say excited, in the move to make this county or to take this county from good to great.”

Baker did not directly address the allegations against his predecessor and political rival during a Monday press conference in Upper Marlboro. Flanked by county council members and state legislators, Baker said his administration would focus on health care, jobs and education.

"Our focus is going to remain on the issues we ran on," he said. "We're moving straight ahead."

Despite questioning from reporters, Baker never directly condemned Johnson and said nothing about any plans he had to fight corruption in county government. During the campaign, Baker did propose creating an inspector general and said he wanted to end "pay-to-play" politics in Prince George's.

Federal agents raided Tick Tock Liquors at 1810-1820 University Blvd. Monday morning in connection with the probe that publicly kicked off on Friday with the arrest of Johnson and his wife, county councilmember-elect Leslie Johnson.

Investigators also raided Tick Tock owner Amrik Melhi's Howard County home. An official with the IRS has taken a folding table into the liquor store premises, an indication that the federal agents will be sifting through documents at this controversial business for a while, ABC7's Brad Bell reported.

The first indictment charges Sgt. Richard Delabrer, 45, of Laurel, liquor store owner Amrik Singh Melhi, 51, of Clarksville, Melhi's wife and co-owner, Ravinder Kaul Melhi, 49, of Clarksville, Cpl. Chong Chin Kim, 42, of Beltsville, College Park auto glass store owner Amir Milijkovic, 39, of Bowie, Chun Chen, 34, of Bowie, and Jose Moreno, 49, of Alexandria with “conspiracy to interfere with commerce by extortion under color of official right.”

The indictment alleges that Melhi and others bribed Delabrer to provide for the safe transportation and distribution of untaxed cigarettes and alcohol in Maryland. Delabrer worked at Tick Tock Liquors as a security guard when he was off-duty. All involved in the alleged extortion scheme face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Ravinda Melhi has been ordered held without bond after a judge agreed with prosecutors that she was a flight risk.

The U.S. attorney's office said the Melhis have hidden millions of dollars of assets both in the United States and abroad, including their native India. Prosecutors said the couple employed friends and family members to conceal cash on their person and courier it overseas. Prosecutors also said they have voluminous wiretap evidence in which both Melhis describe bribing public officials for "official assistance."

Prosecutors say a search of Mrs. Melhi's closet turned up $400,000 in cash. Tax records indicate she claims to make $80,000 a year, prosecutors said.

Detention hearings for those arrested Monday are still ongoing.

The second indictment charges Officer Sinisa Simic, 25, of Woodbridge, and Mirza Kujundzic, 30, also of Woodbridge, with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Kujundzic and Simic face between five years and life in prison for trafficking cocaine and a mandatory five-year sentence for using a firearm as a part of a drug trafficking conspiracy.

Defendants in both cases were scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt at 1:30 p.m. for initial hearings.

The indictment of Sgt. Richard Delabrer and eight others also asks for the forfeiture of 43 different properties, including several liquor stores, cars and $3.5 million in cash.

Many of the 25 properties listed in the indictment appear to be liquor stores. Defendants Amrik Singh Melhi and Ravinder Kaul Melhi own liquor stores throughout Maryland. The properties are in areas as geographically distinct as Waldorf, Baltimore and Midlothian, Va.

A woman who answered the phone at 725 Gouldman Lane in Great Falls, one of the properties listed in the indictment, said she didn’t know the property was being seized. (The home is listed to Aulakh Amarjit and Aulakh Ravinder.) “I hope those people are behind bars,” the woman said of the Melhis. “They don’t have a good reputation.”

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