On Tuesday, May 7, 2024, The Baltimore Sun reported that a federal judge ordered Baltimore defense attorney Kenneth Ravenell to report to prison by July 8th to begin serving his sentence.
Ravenell was convicted in 2021 on one count of money laundering conspiracy after a jury trial. According to court documents, the government alleged that Ravenell laundered nearly $2 million for his client and convicted drug trafficker Richard Byrd. Byrd testified that Ravenell knew the money came from drug sales and provided advice to help Byrd’s marijuana trafficking operation avoid authorities.
While Ravenell was acquitted of other charges including narcotics and racketeering conspiracy, prosecutors claimed some of the laundered funds passed through Ravenell’s former law firm Murphy, Falcon and Murphy which was raided by federal agents in 2014. After leaving the firm, Ravenell wasn’t indicted until 2019 with the case hinging on the five-year statute of limitations for money laundering charges.
The defense argued jurors should have been instructed to consider the statute but the appeals court and later the Supreme Court rejected delaying Ravenell’s prison report date. He will now report to FCI Fairton, a minimum security federal correctional institution in New Jersey by July 8th to serve his sentence of four years and nine months.
As a well-known Baltimore defense attorney who had once argued before the Supreme Court, Ravenell’s conviction resulted in the suspension of his law license by Maryland’s top court. His representation continued attempting to appeal the jury instructions but ran out of chances this year, culminating in the judge’s final order for Ravenell to report to prison this summer to begin his term.
Source: The Baltimore Sun
