Baltimore County man sentenced in plot to impersonate police, kidnap and torture victim with blowtorch

A judge sentenced a Baltimore County man to 25 years in prison for his role in a planned carjacking and kidnapping that federal prosecutors called "shockingly violent."

Donte Davon Stanley of Rosedale told Judge Brendan Hurson he still maintains his innocence after the attack on an employee at a check-cashing store, who prosecutors said was tortured and left for dead. 

Police impersonation and torture 

Court records showed the perpetrators used police vests and fake badges as part of a series of planned kidnappings and robberies in the Baltimore area. 

In June 2024, a federal jury in Baltimore found Donte Stanley guilty of one of them, a crime prosecutors described as "horrific." 

They acquitted him in the other attacks. 

Prosecutors said in May of 2021, Stanley and a co-defendant, Dennis Hairston, targeted the victim because of her job at a check cashing store on Patterson Avenue not far from Reisterstown Road Plaza, believing she had access to large sums of money.

According to the indictment, they put a tracker on her car and conducted surveillance on her.

Prosecutors said the plan was elaborate and involved the use of multiple burner phones to avoid police detection. 

On the evening of the kidnapping, a suspect posed as a construction worker to divert the victim onto a "quieter" side street where the abduction would be less likely to attract attention. The suspects then used flashing lights and sirens on their vehicle to pull her over. They wore vests emblazoned with the word "police" on them.

They handcuffed the victim, blindfolded her, and zip-tied her legs. They then drove her around for roughly five hours, prosecutors said. 

Stanley was behind the wheel of the vehicle, while Hairston used a blowtorch to torture the victim, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said she was repeatedly burned and permanently disfigured. A co-defendant later said he could smell the odor of burnt flesh in the vehicle.

Prosecutors said Hairston also sexually assaulted the victim.

That victim could not provide answers about access to money at the check-cashing store to her captors' satisfaction, and prosecutors said they later dumped her where they abducted her. 

Prosecutors wrote the abductors "all but left [the victim] for dead… extensively burned, still handcuffed, blindfolded and face down on the rear floorboard" of her vehicle, which they "covered… with a tarp and secured…with bungee cords."

The victim "forced her way out of her vehicle and ran to a nearby residence where she pleaded for help."

Strong words from judge 

Judge Hurson called the crime "cruel" and "the stuff of nightmares."

He said, "In a city full of carjackings, you don't see things like this."

Hurson described the plot as "grotesque, depraved and reprehensible conduct." 

He said the victim was "an innocent, hard-working, young woman who did absolutely nothing to warrant what happened to her after being met by people she thinks are police officers who turned out not to be."

However, the judge did show some leniency. Sentencing guidelines called for a 21- to 27-year prison sentence for Stanley.

Hurson noted he could deviate from them and could have sentenced Stanley to life in prison.

He ultimately chose a 25-year sentence for Stanley. 

Victim scarred for life 

In a written statement, the victim told the judge, "I suffered severe burns that left visible and permanent scars on my body. These injuries not only affected my physical health but also my emotional well-being and self-esteem. Since the attack, I have lived with anxiety, depression, insomnia, and a constant feeling of fear and insecurity."

She wrote, "The psychological consequences have been devastating…." 

Prosecutors told the judge the victim was too shaken to attend Monday's sentencing.

They declined to comment on the case to WJZ Investigates following the hearing.

"I'm very sorry"

Stanley briefly addressed Judge Hurson. 

"I want to maintain my innocence," he said. "The anguish I felt for the victim… I am very sorry for what she's been through. Every day since then, I've been praying for her recovery."

His lawyer, Gary Proctor, told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren he planned to appeal.

Stanley's legal team asked the judge for leniency, noting his difficult childhood with a mother addicted to drugs and a father in prison.

His lawyers also stressed the difficult conditions behind bars for Stanley since his incarceration for this crime. 

They said he had been stabbed during a prison attack and was left with untreated kidney stones for more than a year.

"It didn't have to go this way," Judge Hurson told Stanley. "You could've said no, and you wouldn't be here."