A 26-year-old Baltimore man will spend nearly six years in federal prison after police chased him down in a backyard during a patrol of a block known for open-air drug dealing, then found a loaded gun he had tried to throw away along with dozens of capsules of fentanyl. U.S. Chief District Judge George L. Russell III handed down the sentence this week: 70 months behind bars followed by five years of supervised release.
The sentence stems from a December 4, 2025 encounter in which Baltimore police patrolled a block described as known for open-air drug sales and gun violence, according to WBFF. Dennis Harlee and several other people fled on foot from a backyard once someone alerted them that officers were nearby, and police chased Harlee before detaining him in the yard.
During the chase, Harlee tried to toss away a loaded gun, but it bounced off a wall and officers recovered it, the outlet reports. Authorities said the weapon had five rounds, including one loaded in the chamber. Officers also found a clear bag on Harlee containing 32 capsules filled with a fentanyl and 4-ANPP mixture.
Federal Charges and Sentencing
Harlee was convicted of having drugs with intent to sell and carrying a gun to help with drug trafficking. U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes announced the sentence along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley, according to the same report.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Federal Gun-and-Drug Cases
Harlee's case is one of several recent federal prosecutions in the Baltimore area pairing firearm and narcotics charges, though each has involved distinct facts and outcomes. In one case, Baltimore man Dwone Bryant, 29, was sentenced to five years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for firearm possession and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, according to a separate report. Evidence at Bryant's trial included an observed hand-to-hand transaction in which he sold 10 buprenorphine strips for $50, and after his arrest, officers recovered a handgun loaded with nine rounds along with additional drugs and cash.
In another case, a federal judge sentenced 41-year-old Baltimore resident Timothy Darren Proctor to 130 months in prison and five years of supervised release on firearms and drug-trafficking charges, WBAL reports. A federal jury found Proctor guilty in October 2024 of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute, and carrying a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Police had previously found roughly 10 grams of fentanyl on Proctor after discovering him unresponsive in a parked car in July 2021.
What they share is a federal push, backed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local police, to pursue prison time for defendants found carrying guns alongside street-level drug quantities.
