Former Baltimore Safe Streets employee sentenced to 5 years for illegal gun possession

A former employee of Baltimore's Safe Streets program has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a firearm.

Donald Smothers was sentenced to five years without the possibility of parole during that period, according to the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office.

Smothers was arrested April 8 after Baltimore police, who were patrolling the 400 block of W. Mulberry Street, pulled over a vehicle for an expired registration.

The driver identified himself as Lovely Lawler, while Smothers was the passenger. Officials said Smothers appeared visibly nervous after both men were ordered out of the vehicle.

During a pat-down, police recovered a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun from Smothers' waistband. The gun had one 9mm live cartridge in the chamber and 13 live 9mm rounds in the magazine, according to officials.

Police also recovered a small bag of suspected crack cocaine from Smothers' pants pocket.

Smothers was on parole at the time of the firearm possession and has multiple prior convictions, including a 2006 second-degree murder conviction. His criminal record also includes convictions related to possessing a concealed deadly weapon and a handgun used in a robbery, as well as drug and handgun offenses dating back to 1996.

State's Attorney calls for Safe Streets vetting

Baltimore State's Attorney Ivan J. Bates said he was "deeply concerned" about the case, saying Safe Streets workers have a high level of responsibility and are expected to maintain the trust of the communities they serve.

"Safe Streets workers are entrusted with an extraordinary level of responsibility. They work in our communities, interact with vulnerable individuals and, in many cases, are placed in positions where trust and credibility are essential," Bates said.

He added: "People can change, and we believe in redemption, but redemption must be accompanied by accountability and a demonstrated commitment to leaving a life of crime behind. When taxpayers are funding these positions, the city has a responsibility to do its due diligence and ensure that those given this level of trust have truly turned their backs on their criminal careers."

Bates called for "a vetting process that protects the integrity of the Safe Streets program and, most importantly, the communities it is intended to serve."

Mayor's office calls release a "targeted attack"

The Mayor's Office and the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, or MONSE, said Smothers worked as a violence interrupter at the Cherry Hill Safe Streets site as part of a pilot program providing daytime support at the Cherry Hill Town Center.

Smothers worked at the Cherry Hill location from June 30, 2025, until Dec. 11, 2025.

The mayor's office and MONSE said the State's Attorney's Office's decision to identify Smothers as a former Safe Streets employee and release photos of him wearing Safe Streets clothing amounted to "another targeted attack on Safe Streets and community violence intervention work."

They emphasized that Smothers had left the program months before his arrest.

"The decision to make this individual's actions about the Safe Streets program as a whole, to include photographs of him in Safe Streets attire, and to brand him as a "former Safe Streets employee" when his arrest was not related to his work, and took place months after his employment had ended, is another targeted attack to undermine Safe Streets and community violence intervention work," the Mayor's Office and MONSE said in a joint statement.

"The actions of this formerly employed individual do not reflect values and standards of the program. As we have said time and time again, anyone who refuses to live up to those standards will be held accountable."

The statement also questioned the State's Attorney's Office for not releasing photos of Baltimore police officers accused of misconduct while sharing photos of Smothers wearing Safe Streets attire.

"(State's Attorney) makes it abundantly clear that this is about politics, not a genuine concern for public safety," the statement continued. "This narrative that everyone who works for Safe Streets or in the CVI space is inherently criminal is dangerous, especially for the men and women who put their lives in harm's way every day, leveraging their credibility in the communities they serve to mediate potentially violent conflicts."

What is Safe Streets?

Safe Streets Baltimore is a city-supported program established in 2007 as an evidence-based public health program aimed at reducing gun violence. The program employs outreach professionals who work on community outreach, public education, conflict mediation and violence interruption.

In July, another former Safe Streets worker, 51-year-old Antoine Burton, was not charged with attempted murder in connection with a shooting outside a Park Heights gas station. Instead, he faced a federal gun charge.

Burton was arrested after a 40-year-old man was shot June 7. He initially faced attempted murder, assault and gun charges.

Burton was on probation for a previous gun conviction at the time of the shooting.

The Baltimore State's Attorney's Office said the attempted murder charges were dropped because of the new federal gun charge.

Burton was indicted in federal court in 2020 for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and was placed on three years of probation in January 2024. He also has previous convictions for robbery with a deadly weapon and attempted murder.