One of the men responsible for what county prosecutors described as an "outrageous" cemetery vandalism spree in eastern Baltimore County has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, and afterward will be forced to do three years of weekly community service at the same cemeteries he tried to destroy. On Friday, Perez entered an Alford plea -- in which a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the state has enough evidence to convict -- to charges of destroying a funerary object and theft. Baltimore County Circuit Judge Lawrence R. Daniels sentenced Perez, of the 1600 block of Four Georges Court in Dundalk, to 18 months and ordered him to pay restitution and do community service.

"It is a really good sentence from Judge Daniels," Baltimore County Assistant State's Attorney Richard Scott said. "We wanted to send a message to the community that these cemeteries are for all of us, that this conduct will not be tolerated."

Officer Shawn Vinson, a spokesman for the Baltimore County Police Department, said that cemetery vandalism is rare in the county. This year, he said, there have been fewer than five such incidents. "It's not something we have regularly," he said.

Police said that on Oct. 9, Perez took part in overturning 50 gravestones at the Holy Rosary Cemetery in the 7300 block of German Hill Road and throwing the statue through the window at Woolford Memorial.

A week later, they said, he and another man broke three statues at the Sacred Heart of Mary Cemetery in the 7500 block of German Hill Road, fleeing when the groundskeeper arrived. On Oct. 21, he took part in pushing over 71 headstones at Sacred Heart of Mary, destroying many, and vandalizing 31 more at the St. Andrews Cemetery, also in the 7500 block of German Hill Road, police said.

On Oct. 22, prosecutors said, he went back to Sacred Heart of Mary, where another 20 headstones were toppled and a number of marble vases and statues were broken.

In all, there was more than $427,800 worth of damage, police reported.

In court, a volunteer groundskeeper testified about finding the damage. Prosecutors said members of a family began crying when they saw the damage that had been done.

"It's victims that can't defend themselves," Scott said. "It's outrageous."

Soon after the vandalism, police received a tip about Perez's involvement, and officers went to his Dundalk apartment. There they found marble statue heads, wings and hands.

Police arrested Perez and Fritz Froehlich, also of Dundalk, and charged them with multiple counts of destroying funerary objects and theft. The case against Froehlich is pending.

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