Former Dundalk Man, Reputed Prison Gang Leader, Faces New Murder Charge on Verge of Release

The release Tuesday of a former Dundalk man, the reputed leader of a prison gang founded in Maryland, has been postponed because of a new murder charge, according to law enforcement officials.

Perry Roark, 42, jailed since a 1991 armed robbery of a former 84 Lumber store in Dundalk, is the alleged founder of Dead Man Inc., a notorious Maryland prison gang.

Allegedly founded by Roark in the late 1990s after he was rejected for membership in the Black Family Guerilla gang because he is white, Dead Man Inc. is notorious enough to have been profiled in a 2009 History Channel Gangland series segment. Dead Man Inc. also has its own Wikipedia entry and Facebook page.

The Baltimore Sun reported Sunday that Roark has been served with a warrant for murder of George Hartman, a Jessup inmate who was killed in 1994.

At least two Dundalk addresses for Roark are listed in Maryland online court records, including one dating back to 1987 after two traffic stops, listing his address in the 1700 block of Drexel Road. Following a 1988 arrest for robbery, Roark’s address was listed in the 1900 block of Haselmere Road.

Dead Man Inc., also known as DMI, has been linked to crimes inside prison, including hits for the Black Guerilla Family, and outside prison.

Roarke started DMI, along with inmates James Sweeney and Brian Jordan, “with the intention to imitate the BGF by establishing similar principles such as anti-government and anti-religion,” according to the Dead Man Inc. Facebook page. The group grew quickly, according  to inmates interviewed by the History Channel, offering protection for white inmates in the Maryland Correctional System.

Members are said to refer to each other as "Dawgs" which stands for DMI Against World Government.

Ryan Shifflet of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Gang Investigation Network, who met with Roarke last year, told the Baltimore Sun that Roark is a hero to his followers.

 "You've got tons of inmates who've never laid eyes on the man, but they know who he is and have heard he's 10 feet tall and bulletproof," Shifflet said.

Shifflet also said Roarke had been looking forward to his release.

It’s unclear where Roarke will be held until a trial is scheduled for the new charges.

The first two of multiple YouTube video clips of the History Channel’s Gangland series on Dean Man Inc., including photos of Roarke and others, interviews with several gang members and prison guards, can be found here and here.

Confirmed Dead Man Inc. gang members, gathered by the Baltimore Sun from the Division of Correction this month, put DMI third in Maryland prison numbers with 540 members, larger than either the Crips or MS-13 gangs. The Bloods are the largest gang with 973 members, followed by the Black Guerilla Family with 965 members.

Dean Man Inc. is said have perhaps thousands of members in prisons across the country, spreading as inmate members have been transferred to institutions in other states.