Trial Starts For 8 Charged In Baltimore Jail Case

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The trial for eight remaining defendants in a vast drug-smuggling operation at a downtown Baltimore jail has opened with jury selection.

Prosecutors say the trial should last eight weeks. Jury selection began Monday morning and is expected to last through Tuesday.

The eight defendants are the last of 44 charged in the conspiracy involving correctional officers, inmates and several others with gang ties. Prosecutors say the group plotted to smuggle drugs, cellphones and other contraband into the Baltimore jail and other corrections facilities.

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