Drug kingpin convicted in murder for hire plot
A drug kingpin faces the death penalty after being convicted this morning in a murder-for-hire plot.
A drug kingpin faces the death penalty after being convicted this morning in a murder-for-hire plot.
Maurice Phillips, 38, ordered his cousin to kill a woman because he suspected she was cooperating with a probe into his multimillion dollar drug ring, a federal jury found.
The jury of eight woman and four men also convicted Phillips of operating a continuing criminal enterprise for importing cocaine into the region from Texas.
Phillips - wearing green sweater, white shirt, and dark pants - said nothing when the verdict was announced.
The penalty phase of the trial will begin Monday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linwood C. Wright Jr. said there were aggravating factors in the case that justify the imposition of the death penalty for Phillips, and the jury will balance that against the defense's arguments for leniency.
Phillips' attorney Jean Barrett, speaking to reporters after the verdict, said, "We're extremely disappointed, but we respect the jury's decision and the efforts they put in."
The jury found Phillips guilty of tampering with a witness by murder. In 2002, Phillips ordered his cousin to kill Chineta Glanville, 50, a money-launderer who worked for him and other drug dealers.
Bryan Phillips testified that before he killed Glanville he dressed in a Federal Express shirt and hat. Then he knocked on her door in Wyndmoor, Montgomery County.
Dane King, Glanville's godson answered the door, but Phillips insisted Glanville had to personally accept the package.
Bryan Phillips forced her to lie on the floor and shot her in the back of the head, and then killed King.
The hit man testified he was promised $18,000, but his cousin gave him $16,000 in cash, and allowed him to select clothes from a store he owned in Atlanta.
In addition to Phillips, two codefendants in the case - Sherman Kemp and David Garcia - were found guilty for distributing cocaine.