Despite praise from friends & kin, drug dealer gets 6 years in jail

You'd think Dr. J would have been the most influential person in his son's life.

But yesterday, Julius Erving III said in court that the man who had the most impact on him was Omar Teagle, the convicted leader of the Philadelphia arm of a multimillion dollar drug-trafficking ring.

"He taught me how to be a father," Erving said before Teagle was sentenced to six years in federal prison. "He taught me how to be a friend. He taught me how to be a brother. He taught me how to be a man."

Friends, relatives and even the prosecutor and judge in the case all agreed that Teagle - a clothing and music entrepreneur - had done good things, from cleaning up parks to setting up after-school programs. That, U.S. Assistant Attorney Leo Tsao said, is "what makes the case such a tragedy."

In 2006, the drug-distribution network that Teagle and several others ran in four states came to a halt when federal authorities got wind of a 210-kilogram shipment of Mexican cocaine that had been picked up in Los Angeles and transported to Somerset, N.J.

The coke was worth $40 million on the street and $5 million wholesale, federal authorities said.

Teagle pleaded guilty last year to possession with the intent to distribute and conspiracy for making a deal to procure just under a third of the shipment to sell it in the Philadelphia area.

The sentence U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick yesterday gave Teagle, 35, a West Philadelphia native who had moved to Townsend, Del., was well below the 14-year guideline.

Surrick said that he'd accounted for Teagle's good deeds after receiving a binder of support letters and a DVD showing Teagle's accomplishments.

Teagle headed Teagle and Turner Entertainment, Versatile Music and Versatile Clothing, all with headquarters on 3rd Street near South. According to his family, Teagle also ran an academic-challenge program, sponsored block carnivals, and, with Erving III, co-founded the Cory Erving Youth Camp in memory of another son of Dr. J.

"Anybody that knows me knows I'm not the type of person to talk about my father or my father's legacy," the younger Erving said yesterday.

He said his father's success has allowed him to meet many influential people, including President Obama, President Clinton and Michael Jackson.

"Through all of that . . . the most influential person in my life has been Omar Teagle," he said.

More than 50 supporters attended the hearing, including Teagle's five children, ages 3 to 16, who all left the courtroom in tears. "My dad is a marvelous man," 12-year-old Kamar Teagle said. "He was always there for us."

Tsao also said he believed there was a lot of good in Teagle. "On one hand, the defendant was doing good deeds in the community," Tsao said. "With the other hand he's poisoning these communities with the drugs he's injecting into the neighborhood."

Teagle apologized to the "United States of America" and said he only wanted to make a difference in people's lives.

"I look down at my hands and say 'What did I do with my hands,' " he said. "I am sorry for every family I hurt with these hands." *