Drug dealer gets life sentence, spared death penalty

Maurice Phillips, convicted of running a multimillion-dollar cocaine-distribution network and ordering the killing of a federal informant, was spared the death penalty today.

He will instead spend life in prison.

A U.S. District Court Jury of eight women and four men declined to sentence Phillips to death.

Phillips, 38, was convicted earlier this month of hiring his first cousin to kill Chineta Glanville, 50, his long time money launder who had told mutual acquaintances she was cooperating with federal investigators.

Phillips' cousin also killed Dane King, 29, Glanville's godson.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Linwood C. Wright Jr., who prosecuted the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen McCartney, argued to the jury that aggravating factors - premediation and murder for hire - justified the death penalty.

Jean D. Barrett, who defended Phillips along with Thomas R. Ashley, argued that Phillips shouldn't die because his cousin, Bryant Phillips, had struck a plea deal with prosecutors to serve only 10 years.

Wright said the deal with Bryant Phillips was necessary to prosecutor Maurice Phillips.

The case against Phillips was based on an extensive investigation by the FBI and the IRS and included testimony from several close associates.

Glanville, 50, of Wyndmoor, was killed June 22, 2002, by the gunman posing as a FedEx deliveryman.

During the trial, Bryant Phillips testified that Maurice Phillips hired him to kill Glanville because he suspected she was cooperating with the FBI.

Glanville had begun cooperating in May 2002. She was, according to testimony, an accomplished forger who worked for Phillips and other drug dealers fabricating documents used to help launder millions of dollars in illegal income.

In chilling testimony, Bryant Phillips described how he pumped two bullets into the back of Glanville's head after ordering her to lie on the floor of the office in her suburban home. He said he then turned his gun on King, who was visiting his godmother that morning.

During the trial testimony from Chanell Cunningham, his girlfriend and business partner, described a lavish style and almost uncountable amounts of money produced by his cocaine operation.

Cunningham said Phillips once told her he had saved $11 million from his business.

Other witnesses described spending hours using counting machines to sort and bundle cash collected from drug dealers. One told the jury he and Phillips once spent nearly two days counting and bundling more than $3 million.

Using Glanville to set up phony documents, Phillips invested in properties, bought expensive cars, and opened a high-end clothing boutique in Atlanta during his run as a major drug kingpin, according to testimony.

Originally from Roselle, N.J., Phillips had a degree in accounting from the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, according to testimony.

At the time of his arrest in 2007, he was living with his wife in Upper Marlboro, Md.

Over the years, he also bought and maintained homes for Cunningham in Georgia, in Delaware, and on Mullen Drive in Sicklerville, Camden County.

Cunningham, 37, testified that she met Phillips at the NBA All-Star Game weekend in 1998 and that they soon began dating.

She said she helped him connect with drug dealers in Philadelphia who would buy multiple kilos of cocaine. She also said she introduced him to Glanville, whom she described as her "aunt."

Cunningham is awaiting sentencing.