Twelfth member of violent local drug gang sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release

Washington, D.C. - A twelfth member of a local violent drug gang led by Kevin Gray and Rodney Moore has been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release for his role in the gang’s criminal activities during the 1990s, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced today.

Ronald Alfred, 44, was sentenced on Tuesday, November 20, 2007, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth. Alfred was tried along with Kenneth Simmons, James Alfred, Franklin Seegers, Deon Oliver and Keith McGill for their participation in a multi-defendant conspiracy that extended from 1989 to 2000. All six defendants were found guilty of numerous charges following the eight month long trial that occurred between 2003 and 2004. Alfred’s five co-defendants were also previously sentenced to life imprisonment. Kevin Gray and Rodney Moore, the leaders of the gang, and four others were tried in 2002 and have already been sentenced to life imprisonment. Larry Wilkerson, who was tried separately and convicted in September 2004, also faces life imprisonment when he is sentenced, which is expected to take place in 2008.

The investigation of this conspiracy was led by the joint FBI/MPD “Safe Streets Task Force,” a group of investigators which has brought a number of organized local street gangs operating in the District of Columbia to justice in recent years. In November of 2000, a federal grand jury sitting in Washington, D.C. returned a 158-count indictment, charging the defendants with operating a narcotics conspiracy and forming a racketeering enterprise. Members of the gang were also charged in the indictment with 31 separate homicides.

The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that Ronald Alfred operated a long-running, successful drug distribution operation in Washington, D.C., and joined up with Kevin Gray and Rodney Moore in 1995 after Alfred ordered the murder of one of Gray’s coconspirators. For over 10 years, they made substantial profits selling cocaine, heroin, and marijuana to wholesale and retail purchasers. Alfred had substantial personal involvement in the drug business of the organization as well as its violence, including four separate murders.

The defendants enforced their drug distribution business with ruthless, extreme violence. The evidence at trial showed that the organization to which Alfred belonged evolved from one which committed acts of violence to curry favor with drug suppliers to one so successful in the business of killing that it was sought out by others who wanted rivals eliminated. The juries at three separate trials have found this gang criminally responsible for 28 murders, including murders committed to support their drug business, murders intended to prevent cooperation with law enforcement, murders for hire committed strictly for financial gain, and ego-driven murders committed to enhance the notoriety of the organization.

Alfred was convicted at trial of Count One for his participation in the narcotics conspiracy; Count Three for his participation in the conspiracy to commit racketeering (RICO conspiracy); Counts 30, 31, 64, 65, 72 and 73, which were federal and D.C. Code murder charges, for his involvement in the murders of Joseph Thomas on February 27, 1996, Carlos Cardoza on December 13, 1998, and Anthony Watkins on August 9, 1999.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor praised the efforts of the members of the FBI/MPD Safe Streets Task Force for their investigation and specifically commended FBI Special Agents Dan Sparks, Kyle Fulmer, Jay Burton, Kevin Ashby, and Rob Lockhart; Metropolitan Police Detectives Konstantinos Giannakoulias, Thomas Webb, Arthur Reed, Richard Watkins, and Barbara Lyles; and MPD Officers Robert Cephas, Anthony Moye, Durriyyah Habeebullah; Joseph Cabillo, Joseph Anderson, Grant Greenwalt, and James Holder, for their tireless efforts during the investigation and trial. He also recognized the efforts of U.S. Attorney’s Office Paralegal Victoria Ashton and former paralegals Colette Pumphrey, Deborah Mayes, Katrice Mueller, and Thomasenia Manson, and Victim Witness advocates Heather Cartwright and Yvonne Bryant. Finally, he commended the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arvind Lal, Glenn Kirschner, and Florence Pan, who tried this case; as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Jeffress, Rachel Lieber, and Michael Brittin, and former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy J. Heaphy and Matthew G. Olsen, who participated in the investigation and other trials in this case.

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