The fictional character "Patty Ridenour" seems to have been based on the real Patty Cannon of Frederick, Maryland, once called "the most wicked woman in America." She made her fortune kidnapping slaves and free blacks for sale in the South.
The "Orchard Street Church" visited by Falsone and Meldrick is a real church by that name at 512 Orchard Street, founded by a former slave named Truman Pratt. It is now the headquarters of the Greater Baltimore Urban League.
This episode takes place in January 1998.