[b]Name:[/b] Sergeant Desmond Ledford aka Lead Belly 

[b]Age:[/b] 34

[b]Birth Place:[/b] Newark, New Jersey

[b]Drawn Card:[/b] Ace

[b]Card Manifestation:[/b] Ledford has a layer of hardened skin around the edges of his outer layer that work almost like a microscopic exoskeleton. It cannot be penetrated by anything other than a high-powered laser.

[b]Character History:[/b] 

Desmond Ledford was born in in Newark, New Jersey to parents Roland and Bernice Ledford, the youngest of three children. Desmond spent the better part of his childhood as a heavyset and slow kid, sometimes winding up as the butt of jokes with other children and some adults in the neighborhood. Once Ledford hit the age of 13, puberty kicked in and a timely growth spurt put the young man at 6'5 and turned his squeaky voice into a deep baritone. With the added height, Desmond went out for basketball in high school and became a star on two state championship teams. An injury in his junior year caused him to miss out on athletic scholarships. 

After graduating high school with an average grade point average, very little prospects, and no real desire to attend college, Desmond decided to become a police. While the Newark Police Department was not hiring, NYPD's academy accepted him and he joined up. While Desmond did well in mot of his courses, he particularly excelled at driving courses. After graduation, he became a patrolman in the NYPD's 60th Precinct in Brooklyn. Eventually he passed as promoted to sergeant and transferred to the 22nd Precinct around Central Park. 

Desmond was on the street on Black Queen Day and witnessed the horrors of the virus before succumbing to it himself. He became one of the rare few to get the virus, live to tell about it, and emerge from the sickness with a strange new ability. That ability manifested itself a week after Black Queen Day when an armed rioter shot Desmond at point blank range with a shotgun. The pellets ripped into his uniform and through his bullet proof vest, but bounced off his skin completely. Further examination revealed that a microscopic film of hardened skin, ten times as hard as any kevlar or metal, had formed over his usual epidermis. No knife, bullet, or other object was capable of penetrating this object.

As an Ace, Desmond was a natural fit to work Jokertown. He was quickly reassigned to the Fifth, more and more commonly being called Fort Freak, and joined the unique blend of Joker, Ace, and Nat that made up the police squad.

[b]Jokertown Role:[/b] As a patrol sergeant in the NYPD's Fifth Precinct, aka Fort Freak, Ledford supervises a squad of four patrol officers and responds to calls in and around the Jokertown area.