jen.mccaffery@roanoke.com 981-3336

Earl Mills, a disabled former railroad worker, started to sell crack cocaine out of his Blacksburg trailer to make money after he went bankrupt.

Antoine Kentel "Sunny" Kennedy came to the New River Valley from South Carolina with hopes of playing baseball at Radford University. He ended up trafficking cocaine from the New York/New Jersey area and selling it in the New River Valley.

Ashley Nicole "Red" Franklin's boyfriend, Gregory Douglas "Binky" Smith, introduced her to cocaine when she was 16. Franklin, 19, later became an addict and a distributor.

Eleven defendants ranging in age from 19 to 60 pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of a substance that contained crack or powder cocaine. One of those defendants, Steven Ellis Edmonds of Pulaski, also pleaded guilty to having a firearm during a drug-trafficking offense.

Neither Mills, Kennedy nor Franklin disputed in Roanoke federal court Wednesday that they became part of a powder and crack cocaine ring that at its height trafficked 1 to 5 kilograms of crack and powder cocaine per month into the New River Valley, beginning in 1999.

They did not dispute that they were part of a drug ring run by Richard Lamont Lighty. He is the only defendant in the case who has not pleaded guilty.

Lighty also appeared in court Wednesday on the question of whether his attorney was representing him effectively, but they ultimately agreed to work together again. Lighty was also known as Richard Dock, Richard Duck, Bro, Melvin, Young and Black.

Prosecutors Morgan Scott and Edward Lustig indicated that they planned to ask U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson to drop other pending charges against the defendants when they are sentenced. Radford Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Rehak was a special prosecutor in the case.

According to testimony from William Cunningham, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Lighty and other leaders of the conspiracy intimidated other members of the ring through committing or threatening violence and representing that they were members of the Bloods street gang.

Three defendants - Kennedy, 23; Wayne Joseph "Fred" Baker, 21; and Terry O'Dell "Bear" Smith Jr., 24, did not dispute Cunningham's testimony that Lighty solicited them to commit murder and other acts of violence. They refused, Cunningham said. Baker and Smith are both from Pulaski.

Cunningham also testified that Edmonds, 24, decided to cooperate with federal authorities after he fell out of favor with Lighty and believed he was targeted for murder.

Lighty wanted murders carried out when he wanted to take over new territory or as retribution for drug debts, according to Cunningham.

Two other defendants in the case, Quaheem Lamar "Blood" Edwards and Otis Antonio "Skeeno" Smith, have already pleaded guilty.

Otis Smith is the only member of the conspiracy who actually was a member of the Bloods gang, Cunningham testified.

Amber Lane Olsen-Bevins, 21; Crystal Dawn "Big Crystal" Stigger, 25; Joseph "Cocomo Joe" Smith III, 37; Johnnie Curtis "Midnite" Broadnax Jr., 28; and Gregory Smith, 33, also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge Monday.

On the conspiracy charge, each defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to life. Edmonds faces an additional five-year sentence on the firearm charge that must run consecutive to the conspiracy sentence.

But the ATF's Cunningham testified that almost all of the defendants had cooperated with the prosecution. Depending on how much they cooperated, prosecutors could ask the judge for a reduction of those sentences.