Claiming "murder was the hallmark of the operation," federal prosecutors began a two-month trial yesterday of 10 alleged members of a ruthless East Baltimore drug organization that has been linked to more than a dozen killings and the sale of hundreds of pounds of heroin.
The gang was so violent that authorities fear for the lives of witnesses, some of whom have been targeted for execution -- in orders that came from the jail cell of the organization's kingpin, Anthony Jones, prosecutors said.
A witness who testified before a federal grand jury investigating Jones' gang was killed in February -- found shot in the head in his dining room. At the time, federal law enforcement sources said the slaying of John Jones, Anthony Jones' foster brother, was one of a series of retaliatory measures against witnesses.
"This was all part of a war, a war about how Anthony Jones wanted to be the most feared and most powerful drug dealer in Baltimore," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie M. Bennett, who described Jones' group as one of the most murderous in city history. "In the pursuit of these goals, many people died."
Jones, 24, who once recruited a Baltimore police officer in the attempted killing of a rival druglord, is not among those now on trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Prosecutors elected to try him separately in January.
Seventeen of his alleged underlings have been named in a lengthy indictment charging murder, racketeering, narcotics distribution, kidnapping and firearms violations. Seven of those defendants previously pleaded guilty, many in secret negotiations so that Jones would not immediately know who was cooperating with the government, Bennett said.
Among those testifying is Elway Williams, Jones' arch-rival, who allegedly competed for East Baltimore's heroin market. Williams was once shot seven times, allegedly by Jones' drug lieutenants. A bodyguard who was with Williams at the time, Derrick Rivers, was slain in the attack.
Williams will be a key witness against several defendants and Jones himself, who prosecutors say was obsessed with killing him.
Prosecutors said Jones at one point tried to have Williams falsely arrested and turned over to him so he could be killed. Jones offered former Baltimore police Officer Erick McCrary, who was on Jones' payroll, $10,000 to falsely arrest Williams and deliver him to Jones.
McCrary has pleaded guilty in the federal case and will testify for prosecutors.