THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290523
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 35 lines
The woman prosecutors called the ``Ma Barker of Williamsburg'' was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 41 months in prison for intimidating a witness on the steps of the courthouse.
Alleyne Reed Wright, 63, is awaiting trial with her son Marty Wright and live-in boyfriend, James Neal Greenhough, on charges that they operated a gang to distribute drugs on the Peninsula. Wright intimidated a witness in the related trial of another son and nephew last summer.
Federal judge Henry C. Morgan said Tuesday he wanted to send a message that intimidation would not be tolerated.
Morgan's sentence was the maximum allowed by the guidelines, said federal prosecutor John Corcoran. ``It will send a message,'' Corcoran said.
On Friday, another of Wright's sons, Ernest S. Wright, and three other men were sentenced to life without parole for distributing crack on the Peninsula. The gang was responsible for three murders and three non-fatal shootings.
During Ernest Wright's trial in August, Alleyne Wright confronted and threatened a woman who testified against her son on the steps of the courthouse, telling her she was going to ``whip her ---.''
Alleyne Wright faces trial on drug conspiracy charges Feb. 24 with her son, who was indicted last year as the alleged leader of one of three drug gangs that controlled territories in Williamsburg, James City County and New Kent County.
More than 30 people were indicted in three related cases, but trials were delayed due to allegations that prosecutors unfairly targeted blacks for prosecution. An appeals court ruled recently that prosecutors did not unfairly target blacks, so the trials are moving forward.
KEYWORDS: SENTENCING DRUGS ILLEGAL