THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996 TAG: 9608100264
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 103 lines
After a 10-month hiatus, federal agents have come down on a second drug ring in Portsmouth, this time indicting Nathaniel ``Skeet'' Richardson, who had slipped through the cracks of Portsmouth's justice system for years.
Richardson, 25, was named as a drug gang kingpin in a federal indictment unsealed Friday. He was arrested last year with one of the largest crack cocaine stashes ever seized in Portsmouth.
Six others also were named in the indictment, including a mother and son. The indictment describes how large amounts of cocaine and heroin flowed into Portsmouth and large amounts of cash flowed into the pockets of the co-conspirators.
At one point, the indictment says, Richardson paid $44,500 cash for a 1991 Acura NS-X. Much of the money earned by the gang was laundered by buying cars for cash, the indictment says.
This is the second federal roundup in less than a year in Portsmouth. The first, of the River Edge drug gang in December, resulted in several convictions and life sentences for the ringleaders.
The new indictment charges Richardson and others with laundering money, using firearms, conspiring to distribute cocaine and heroin, operating a continuing criminal enterprise, and other crimes.
Richardson won his reputation after being charged with about three dozen crimes over several years, including murder, and being released on bail 25 times without a felony conviction in Portsmouth's state courts.
That ended this year when a Portsmouth jury convicted Richardson of involuntary manslaughter in the 1995 shooting death of his girlfriend and sentenced him to five years in prison.
Now, Richardson faces up to life in federal prison without parole if he is convicted.
``Richardson's position of getting out of the revolving-door system in Portsmouth enabled him to influence the other members of the organization,'' said Drug Enforcement Administration agent-in-charge Livia B. Cole. ``It was a violent gang.''
Federal agents - including an FBI task force that made the first roundup and the DEA task force that made the second - have focused on Portsmouth since the city asked for help battling high crime rates and low conviction rates.
Part of the city's problem is witness intimidation that followed cases even as they moved from state courts to the sedate federal courthouse in Norfolk.
``Witness intimidation is definitely a factor in this investigation,'' Cole said. ``This organization was involved in violence, shootings and assaults in conjunction with the drug trafficking. That's why they were such a thorn in the side for the Portsmouth Police Department.''
Richardson allegedly took part in some of the intimidation, according to the indictment and other court records. Some instances of intimidation are not included in the indictment and may be pursued later, Cole said.
In one case, Richardson shot up the door of 617-F Seventh St. on Dec. 30, 1994, to ``threaten and intimidate'' a co-conspirator who owed money for fronted narcotics, the indictment said.
And in Richardson's first murder trial in 1994, in connection with the slaying of Craig Talbon, a witness testified that Richardson was ``just walking around saying, `If you all say anything, I'll kill you all and your whole family.' ''
A jury acquitted Richardson in that trial.
Friday's indictment names Richardson's lieutenants as Joseph R. ``Big Stuff'' Dodd, 25, of the 900 block of Fifth St., and Jermaine C. Golden, 25, of the 1500 block of Camden Ave.
Others named were Avery M. Lawton, 22, of the 300 block of Dorset Ave.; Latanya M. ``Pinkie'' or ``Pink Dog'' Crawford, 21, of the 2000 block of Elm Ave.; Ella F. Dodd, 42; and Floyd G. Hicks, 34.
The indictment said the gang sold drugs and controlled open-air drug markets at eight locations in Portsmouth: the Southside Gardens Apartments, 902 Fifth St., 522 Portsmouth Blvd., 937 Leckie St., 1530 Green St., 75 Lexington Drive, the Seventh Street Club at 910 Seventh St. and the Evergreen Memorial Cemetery at 3316 High St.
Some of those indicted have had numerous brushes with the law.
Joseph Dodd, for example, was arrested in April on charges of distributing cocaine. Last year, Dodd was arrested with Richardson in a large cocaine seizure.
Jermaine Golden was charged last year with distributing cocaine, using firearms and concealing a weapon. Avery Lawton has been charged about 35 times, mainly on minor charges and traffic violations, and once in April for allegedly distributing cocaine. Latanya Crawford has been charged 21 times, mainly on minor charges and traffic violations, and once for allegedly distributing heroin and once for allegedly distributing cocaine.
The role of Joseph Dodd's mother, Ella Dodd, was to launder money by buying cars, the indictment says.
The DEA task force, which included Portsmouth police, state police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, has worked on the investigation for two years, Cole said.
``We really devoted a lot of resources to bring this case to fruition,'' Cole said. ``I hope it will send a message to drug traffickers operating in Portsmouth that the federal government is pursuing drug criminal activity there.'' MEMO: Staff writer Jon Frank contributed to this story. ILLUSTRATION: NATHANIEL ``SKEET'' RICHARDSON, 25, was named as a
drug kingpin in a federal indictment unsealed Friday. Six others
were also named in the indictment. The charges include laundering
money, using firearms, conspiring to distribute cocaine and heroin,
operating a continuing criminal enterprise, and other crimes.
KEYWORDS: DRUGS ILLEGAL ARREST DRUG KINGPIN FEDERAL
INDICTMENT by CNB