CUMBERLAND — Daniel Blank, who spent more than a year locked up at the Allegany County Detention Center and was released last week, appeared Tuesday before Allegany County Circuit Court Judge Michael Twigg.
Blank was arrested with Jack Lasota and Michelle Zajko near Frostburg on Feb. 16, 2025. Police at that time connected them to homicide investigations in California, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
The trio, allegedly members of a group known as the Zizians, face several misdemeanor charges that involve gun offenses and trespass, and felony drug and gun/drug traffic charges. Their joint trial is scheduled June 1 through 30.
Friday, Twigg allowed Blank to post an unsecured $15,000 bond and leave the jail on terms that include he wear an electronic tracking device, maintain an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, abstain from alcohol and drugs, and live alone locally.
Blank, 28, secured a local apartment his mother agreed to lease until completion of the trial. At the request of Blank’s attorney, Rebecca Lechliter, his new address was redacted from court records.
“I’m settling in,” Blank told the judge Tuesday.
His appearance was the beginning of court-ordered weekly check-ins.
“It gives me more comfort,” Twigg said of the requirement, which continues “until further notice,” according to court documents.
LaSota and Zajko remain in custody at the detention center and are being held without bond.
According to Blank’s motion for pre-trial release, he has “no prior criminal record and is not wanted in any other jurisdiction.”
It states that if Blank is convicted of one or more of the charges he faces, it is unlikely he would serve a lengthy jail sentence.
“The bottom end of the guidelines for all but one of the charges is probation,” it states. Blank “has already served 367 days as of the filing of this motion.”