THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290280
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 85 lines
It took a federal jury less than three hours Monday to do what Portsmouth courts have never done: Find drug kingpin Nathaniel Richardson guilty on a felony drug charge.
After operating a drug trafficking ring for nearly 10 years with impunity, Richardson now faces up to life in federal prison for operating a drug conspiracy that flooded Portsmouth's open-air drug markets with crack and heroin.
Two other members of Richardson's gang - Jermaine Golden and Avery Lawton - were found guilty with him on Monday. Four others pleaded guilty before the trial began last week.
As the verdicts were read shortly before noon, Golden's family members cried out, leading to admonishments from U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson. Golden, a recent graduate of Norfolk State University, was considered the most likely to be cleared.
``I felt sorry for the families,'' said Vanessa White, a Portsmouth detective working with a federal task force. ``Jermaine was the only one who cried. . . He was obviously shaken.''
White said Richardson, known as ``Skeet,'' was an important target of the task force. The inability to prosecute him in state courts made ``a mockery of the narcotics unit,'' White said. ``It was to the point with the revolving door, as they say about Portsmouth, he was becoming a nuisance to the system.''
Richardson's gang was the second to be removed from the streets of Portsmouth by two federal task forces - one involving the FBI, the other the Drug Enforcement Administration - working to reduce violence in Hampton Roads' most violent city. The first was a gang operating in the River Edge section. The leader of that gang, Robert Winfield, recently received life in prison.
Richardson insulated himself from state court prosecution by distancing himself from the drugs, the streets and, more recently, the violence, testimony during the weeklong trial showed. He stored kilos of crack cocaine at others' homes and rarely sold drugs directly to users, choosing instead to protect himself with go-betweens.
He primarily supplied the Southside Gardens open-air drug market with crack, then later branched into heroin and added Ida Barbour to his turf.
``We needed to solve that problem in Southside,'' White said. ``It's government-subsidized housing and right outside the shipyard. The residents were crying out. They needed the help.''
White said working within the federal system made all the difference in bringing Richardson to justice. One difference was the luxury of concentrating on one case with another Portsmouth detective, John Boaz. Both officers are working with the DEA task force.
The other difference was the legal criteria for making a drug distribution case in state court vs. a drug conspiracy case in federal court.
``Nathaniel has said, `Hey, no one caught me with drugs. I never had drugs on me,' '' White said. ``I said, `Yes, but you're always present around drugs.' ''
Plus, despite loyalties Richardson built while operating a drug trafficking ring since 1987, not all the people who dealt with him were willing, in the end, to go to jail for him. The witness list, as one defense attorney said, was a ``parade of drug dealers and addicts'' testifying against Richardson in return for immunity or as part of plea agreements that lessened their own charges or sentences.
Using those witnesses and Richardson's own mistakes, prosecutors pieced together a case showing that Richardson operated a conspiracy to distribute drugs, ran a continuing criminal enterprise and laundered money.
His Achilles' heel proved to be his passion for expensive cars and his need to get rid of large quantities of cash. At one point, Richardson carried a duffel bag with $44,500 in cash to buy a used Acura NSX. But even high-rolling drug traffickers have their limits: He had wanted a new NSX but balked at the $84,000 price tag.
And, the fear that cars would be seized by authorities led the gang to use bicycles in the drug markets, White said. ``I've chased him myself,'' she said. ``One time, Skeet was hit by a car during a chase and wouldn't go to the hospital.''
White said she's talked to Richardson on many occasions. In the end, he knew she was coming after him.
White said Richardson's family and friends were ``shocked'' by the verdict.
``People in Portsmouth, they're used to people being found not guilty and not getting large sentencings. If that sentencing had been today it would have been terrible.''
Richardson will be sentenced later this year. ILLUSTRATION: Kingpin Nathaniel Richardson had beaten previous drug
charges.
KEYWORDS: DRUGS ILLEGAL DRUG TRAFFICKING VERDICT
CONVICTION by CNB