Drug kingpin hits justice system at sentencing

Convicted drug kingpin Maurice Phillips lashed out at what he called a "flawed and tainted" justice system Wednesday before being sentenced to four consecutive life terms for murder and drug trafficking.

The 38-year-old former North Jersey resident, who had been criticized by family members of his victims for showing no remorse, showed very little during his sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Curtis Joyner.

Phillips, convicted of heading a multimillion-dollar, multistate cocaine distribution network, denied he had ordered the murders for which he was convicted in April.

And he lashed out at the federal prosecutors and investigators who had worked his case and nearly a dozen former associates who testified against him. All, he said, had helped create a false story built around "lies written by and told by professional liars."

Joyner made little reference to Phillips' comments when imposing sentence a few minutes later, but he noted that the college-educated Phillips had squandered the opportunities his education and his middle-class parents had given him when he opted to deal drugs.

In April, following a three-month trial, a federal jury found Phillips guilty of ordering the murder of a witness and an innocent bystander in an attempt to thwart a continuing FBI investigation.

During the penalty phase of the trial, which focused on three murder-related charges, the jury voted not to sentence him to death, choosing life in prison instead.

Wednesday's hearing formalized that sentence and added additional time for drug dealing, conspiracy, and money-laundering charges, for which Phillips was also convicted.

Two of the drug charges carried maximum life sentences, which Joyner imposed to run concurrently. They were added to the three life sentences decided by the jury, which are to run consecutively.

Joyner added 240-month sentences for the conspiracy and money-laundering convictions.

Phillips was found guilty of ordering the murder of Chineta Glanville, 50, of Wyndmoor, whom Phillips suspected was cooperating with federal authorities.

Glanville was gunned down in her home on Louise Lane by a hit man posing as a deliveryman. Glanville's 29-year-old godson, Dane King, also was killed.

The gunman, Bryant Phillips, testified for the prosecution in the case, telling the jury that Maurice Phillips, his cousin, had hired him to carry out the hit on Glanville.

He said King was killed simply because he was there that morning and was a witness.

Bryant Phillips said he agreed to testify in exchange for a reduced sentence of about 10 years on the murder-for-hire charges.

The shootings occurred on June 25, 2002, a month after the FBI had raided Glanville's home. She was described during the trial as a "street accountant" who worked for several drug dealers, creating false documents and assisting them in laundering money.

Both Glanville's niece and King's father spoke during the hearing and asked Joyner to see that justice was done.

In addition to Bryant Phillips, the prosecution witnesses at trial included Chanell Cunningham, a Philadelphia woman who was Maurice Phillips' girlfriend and business partner, and Ramon Alvear, a Mexican drug dealer based in Texas who was one of Phillips' primary suppliers.

Authorities said Phillips brought thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Mexico into the New York-Philadelphia drug market and generated millions of dollars in profit for himself.

Prosecutors said a conservative estimate placed a $30 million value on Phillips' enterprise, which operated between 1999 and his arrest in 2007.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Linwood C. Wright, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen McCartney, declined to comment about Phillips' presentencing comments, which included pointed and unflattering references to the veteran prosecutor.

"We're pleased with the sentence," said Wright, a soft-spoken prosecutor who is built like an NFL tight end. "Justice was done."