After Guilty Pleas, Dance Halls on Notice

Operators of a Capital Heights club with a violent history pleaded guilty yesterday to operating a dance hall without a license. In a press conference yesterday in Hyattsville following the final set of guilty pleas, State's Attorney for Prince George's County Angela Alsobrooks said the pleas mark a step forward in the county's efforts to crack down on unlicensed clubs.

Darryl Robinson and Eric Pickens became the latest members of the management team for the now shuttered MSG club to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charges. Pickens was given a suspended six month sentence and will be on unsupervised probation for a year. Robinson, who has prior felony drug convictions, was given a suspended six month sentence and year of supervised probation.

Over the last two weeks, two others associated with the club, Jerome Tillery and Ronald Dixon, had also pleaded guilty to the same charges. Tillery was given a suspended six month sentence and six months of unsupervised probation. The judge also forbid him from working at or managing a club until he has obtained the necessary licenses.

The charges came in the wake of an August 9 drive-by shooting outside the club which left 20-year-old Jasmine Banks dead and injured a 19-year-old man.

County police have linked at least 62 homicides between 2005 and 2011 to incidents which started at nightclubs, according to the Gazette.

"The acceptance of the pleas today is among only the first steps in removing these illegal dance halls from our community," said Alsobrook. "While these please did not result in jail time, the certainly put other illegal operators on notice."

The club itself had lost its license back in May due to concerns over violence, according to Alsobrook, but remained in operation in what she termed as a flagrant violation of both previous and current licensing laws.

"They opened this establishment in spite off all the violence," said Alsobrook. "It has had a long trail of violence and death associated with it, and they were well aware of it and they operated anyway and cost this young woman her life and caused a young man to be injured."

This past July, the Prince George's County Council passed emergency legislation, dubbed CB-18, which raise licensing fees from $300 to $1,000 a year, and gives the Department of Environmental Resources the right to suspend or revoke applications or licenses for dance halls and clubs. It also prohibits clubs from operating between 2 a.m. and 1 a.m.

Normally, new laws don't go into effect until 45 days after they are passed, however the dance hall licensing reforms were passed as an emergency measure and went into effect immediately as soon as they were signed.

Prince George's County Councilwoman Karen Toles (D-Dist. 7), also present at the press conference, responded to complaints that the law was too harsh on dance clubs or that its new provisions were introduced too quickly.

"You know this law is coming," said Toles. "Once you know it's enacted, it's time to bring yourself in compliance."

Alsobrooks said that county investigators have uncovered other dance halls in the county and shut them down, however no charges have been sought against them under the new law.

"Dance halls that operate illegally routinely violate fire codes, liquor laws and other county regulations," said Alsobrook. "They are a danger to our community."

Banks' mother Rochelle Banks was present at court today for the hearings.

"I'm just thankful that no other parent will have to go through this," said Rochelle Banks at the press conference.

According to the Washington Times, the Banks family plans to bring a wrongful-death lawsuit against the owners of the MSG club. Rochelle Banks declined to comment on the lawsuit at the press conference.

Alsobrook and Toles both reiterated that they want reputable businesses, including dance halls, to operate in the county.

"Seruously, again, you can operate a business, and we want them here," said Alsobrook. "But if they are unlicensed and leave a trail of death and destruction that goes along with it, no thank you."