THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 16, 1995 TAG: 9512160250
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
Seven alleged members of a drug gang said to have terrorized residents of River Edge Apartments in Portsmouth were indicted Thursday in federal court.
Six were in custody Friday after a early morning wake-up sweep by the FBI and Portsmouth police. It was the first major result of a federal task force, started in August, charged with cleaning up violence in Portsmouth. The South Hampton Roads city has had the lowest murder-solution rate for the past two years.
In Portsmouth, where seven of the city's 10 drug murders have gone unsolved this year, police have said that drug gangs like this have gone virtually unchecked. There have been a record 37 murders there this year.
Since 1993, the River Edge gang has allegedly held apartment residents in a stranglehold of violence and intimidation. Residents have been killed, shot, beaten, robbed and threatened, said the indictment, which was unsealed Friday.
The charges included two counts of murder, attempted murder of a witness, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and using firearms for drug trafficking. They face maximum penalties of life in prison and millions of dollars in fines.
River Edge Apartments, scheduled to be demolished in March, is a place where gunshots are often heard on weekend nights. Residents have lived in an atmosphere where only anonymity brought safety. They were afraid to come forward to complain for fear of their lives.
While nearby Forest Park had a neighborhood watch that tried to keep records on drug dealers, River Edge residents were too scared to do the same, said Tara Welt, the watch's coordinator.
``We had one person there that was trying to help, but. . . when you live next to the biggest drug dealer in town, they're scared,'' Welt said. One River Edge resident told her, ``For dinner, what we do is get under the table and pray the bullets don't hurt us,'' she said.
The gang operated an open-air drug market around Wallace Circle and Cambridge Street and also sold drugs outside two convenience stores in the 3300 and 3400 blocks of Hartford Street, the indictment said.
The gang sold cocaine and marijuana to 25 to 50 customers a day. They intimidated drug users who owed them money or cooperated with police, by killing or shooting them, the indictment said.
The indictment named Robert Lee ``Tubbs'' Winfield Jr., 22, and Lorenzo Lee ``Geek'' Winfield, 19, as the gang leaders responsible for obtaining the drugs.
John Lee Cobbs, 20, was named as the chief enforcer. Cobbs and Robert Winfield were responsible for most of the violence, the indictment said.
Other members named in the indictment included: Lemuel Demonte ``D'' Britt, 22; Taubari Olanyan ``Tabar'' Latson, 21; Demetrius Marcus ``Meat'' Williams, 22; and Andre Lamont ``Dre'' Branche, 21. All seven were from Portsmouth.
Branche was still being sought Friday and was described as ``armed and dangerous.'' He has black hair and brown eyes. He is black, 5'4'' and weighs 140 pounds.
Three of the men were already in jail awaiting local charges when the sweep occurred. One was arrested on the steps outside the Portsmouth courthouse. Two others were apparently roused from bed at home early Friday morning.
Although Robert Winfield was arrested by Portsmouth police in July on a murder charge, he continued to control the gang from his jail cell, the indictment said.
On July 25, he allegedly ordered the execution of a witness, Darwin Eady, after he heard that Eady was cooperating with police. Five days later, Eady was shot several times by Cobbs, the gang's enforcer, the indictment said.
An escalating turf war over the apartment's drug market peaked in May 1994 when Robert Winfield and Cobbs allegedly gunned down competitor Reginald Cannon, 32, the indictment said. Cannon's bullet-riddled body was found May 20, 1994 in a car outside his home in River Edge Apartments. Another man, Harold Edward Franklin Jr., was also shot but survived.
However, the murders didn't stop there, the indictment said. On July 21, Cobbs gave crack cocaine to Mark Martin in exchange for borrowing his car. When Martin tried to get his car back, Robert Winfield shot him in the back of the head with a .38 revolver, the indictment said.
Robert Winfield was charged with Martin's murder in Friday's indictment and was also charged with the attempted murder of Ronald Lawrence Curry during the same incident.
Robert Winfield is no newcomer to the criminal justice system. Since he turned 18 four years ago, Winfield has been charged 41 times for misdemeanors and felonies.
Court records show that Robert Winfield was released several times on bond. In March, after a malicious wounding charge, he was released on $20,000 bond. A month later he was arrested for allegedly selling marijuana and again released. Three months later, while once more out on bond, he allegedly killed Martin.
Court records show other alleged gang members have had similar brushes with the law for violence or cocaine charges.
Latson has previously been charged with possession and sale of cocaine, malicious wounding, robbery and use of a firearm. Lorenzo Winfield has been charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm and failure to appear in court.
Britt has been charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, cocaine possession and two counts of probation violation.
Williams has been charged with robbery, probation violation and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. MEMO: Staff writer Jane E. Bryant contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Robert Lee Winfield Jr., 22, has been charged 41 times in the past
four years.
MARK MITCHELL
The Virginian-Pilot
More
Neighborhood watch organizer, Tara Welt (with cap) is hopeful that
the River Edge arrests will prevent crime from filtering into her
neighborhood, Forest Park. See story on A6.
STAFF Map
KEYWORDS: GANGS DRUGS ILLEGAL ARREST by CNB