Convicted drug dealer testifies against friend

Raymond Morales said yesterday that he met Juan Rivera-Velez in the early 1990s, when they were with separate Camden drug organizations.

Morales ran his own operation, one of Camden's biggest, and occasionally supplied drugs to "the Alley," which employed Rivera-Velez.

Yesterday, the two met again, in U.S. District Court in Camden, where Morales testified against Rivera-Velez, who faces drug and murder conspiracy charges.

Morales, who ran a multimillion-dollar drug organization that brought hundreds of kilos into the city from 1992 until 2004, arrived in court surrounded by a detail of marshals.

He testified that he ordered Rivera-Velez to kill a drug rival and then another man to cover up the first slaying. The first man was killed, but the second survived a shot to the head and is also expected to testify.

Defense attorney Harold Shapiro told the jury during his opening statement Wednesday that Morales, a confessed killer, had fabricated information to help himself and was not a credible witness.

Morales was questioned yesterday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Carrig and is scheduled to testify again Monday.

During more than three hours of questioning, Morales, 37, described how he grew up poor in Camden and admired the drug dealers with money, flashy cars, jewelry, and street respect.

His first arrest as a juvenile didn't deter him, and when he returned to the streets, he testified, he worked Atlantic and Norris Streets.

Eventually, he said, he employed hundreds, providing dealers with guns.

"I did everything I had to do to keep them happy," Morales said, adding that he shut the corner down during school hours because "you have to show the children some type of respect."

He also shut down during Sunday church services. In turn, neighbors didn't call police, he said.

He smoked marijuana daily, which he said calmed him down - "made me real sharp; it made me real thinkative" - as he coordinated his wholesale and retail businesses.

"We were selling so much, we didn't have enough sometimes," Morales testified, adding that he was moving 20 to 30 kilos a week at about $22,000 a kilo, depending on purity.

His goal, he said, was to sell as much as he could and make as much money as he could using relatives and friends, including Rivera-Velez, nicknamed "Two-Face" because the left side of his face is severely disfigured.

When people were beaten or killed, Morales testified matter-of-factly, those were good business decisions that kept money flowing.

About 1992, Morales said, he met Rivera-Velez at Los Amigos, a bar near the notorious "Alley" organization in East Camden, where Rivera-Velez was working at the time.

The Alley was run by Saul Febo, a now-convicted drug dealer, who turned to Morales for drugs at times and supplied Morales if he was low, Morales said.

Morales said he and Rivera-Velez played pool, smoked marijuana, and became tight even though he was told not to trust the Alley guys.

Near the end of 1994, Morales testified, Rivera-Velez was in a car accident and remained in a coma for several weeks. Morales visited the hospital several times a week and gave thousands of dollars to Rivera-Velez's girlfriend.

Although doctors predicted Rivera-Velez might die, he survived, Morales testified, calling it a "miracle." When Rivera-Velez returned home and he broke up with his girlfriend, Morales said, he would visit his friend, wash his dishes, vacuum the house, and warm up his food. Later, he said, they "dated chicks" together.

"We bonded," Rivera said, adding that he loved him like a brother after the Alley fired him.

Rivera-Velez was disabled on his left side, his arm nearly useless, Morales said, and he helped his friend by rebuilding his motor bike so the clutch was on the right side.

Rivera-Velez also became more involved in the drug organization, working as an enforcer as Morales delivered drugs or collected money, Morales testified.

His right arm was healthy and he could pull a trigger, Morales said. Twice, Morales said, Rivera-Velez, with a good reputation as a "gunslinger," delivered "beatdowns" on those who betrayed Morales.

In 1996, Morales testified, he told Rivera-Velez to kill rival drug dealer Miguel Batista. He said he also told him to kill Rafael Colon-Rodriguez, who disposed of the bloody clothes and murder weapon in the Batista killing. Colon-Rodriguez survived the murder attempt.

In his opening statement, Shapiro said two witnesses to the Batista murder identified two men, neither of whom was Rivera-Velez. He said it also did not make sense that Rivera-Velez would shoot Colon-Rodriguez.

Morales, who remains in protective custody in a federal prison, is expected to testify in more detail about the six murders he said were carried out at his request.