THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701240536
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 36 lines
Four members of a Peninsula crack gang responsible for three murders and three nonfatal shootings have received life without parole for illegal drug trafficking.
The cases are part of a larger crackdown last year on three interlocked drug rings that had terrorized neighborhoods in Williamsburg and James City County since the 1980s. The three gangs allegedly staked out separate territories and worked as friendly competitors.
More than 30 people were indicted in three related cases resulting from the crackdown. But the cases had been delayed while an appeals court considered whether prosecutors had unfairly targeted blacks for prosecution.
The four sentencings took place in U.S. District Court within the last seven days. Receiving life sentences were:
Larry Eugene Reed, 28, of Toano, who was responsible for two of the murders, evidence showed. Schoolteacher Maxine Amos was murdered on Sept. 25, 1988, her 39th birthday, when she interrupted a burglary at her parents' home. Leroy Lee was murdered Oct. 15, 1988, because he owed drug money, evidence showed.
Courtney Floyd Gregory, 29, of Jamaica, implicated in the 1992 shooting death of Hampton University student Tanya Stark.
Scott William Lee, 28, of James City County and Ernest Sterling Wright, also known as Petey Wise, 35, of James City County, sentenced for drug trafficking.
The gang carried guns and used intimidation and violence to collect drug debts; their tactics included murder, beatings, shootings and threats.
Reed and Wright are both cousins of Marty Wright, the alleged leader of a related gang who goes to trial in February. Two other alleged gang leaders, Anthony L. Olvis and Terry D. Jones, go to trial in upcoming weeks.