Carlos Barria/Reuters
Seven Baltimore police officers are accused of robbing and extorting as much as $200,000 from residents, prosecutors said Wednesday. The officers were arrested and now face federal racketeering charges. “These are really simply robberies by people wearing police uniforms,” U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said at a press conference. The officers allegedly stole drugs, firearms, and cash ranging from $200 to $2,000 from victims, some of whom were just ordinary residents who had not committed any crimes. Rosenstein said the arrests were the result of an investigation that began a year ago that stemmed from a DEA probe into drug trafficking. The officers, all members of a gun-crime unit in 2015 and 2016, were allegedly committing the crimes as the city endured rioting and media scrutiny after the death of a black man in police custody in April 2015. They face as much as 20 years behind bars.