Three top members of a powerful District-area drug ring were found guilty on Tuesday of murder, racketeering, drug and charges, including in the killing of a woman a day before she was to testify against their organization.
The violent group operated in the Barry Farm neighborhood in Southeast Washington, and sold PCP, cocaine and heroin throughout the capital region, law enforcement officials said.
Recommended Stories
Three murders attributed to the trio were carried out in the District and Maryland, officials said.
The guilty verdicts came after a two-month trial at federal court in the District and after a week of jury deliberations.
“Today a jury of ordinary citizens struck back against a violent organization that operated for so many years,” said U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen Jr.
Convicted were Mark Pray, 31, Alonzo Marlow, 31, both of D.C, and Kenneth Benbow, 31, of Capitol Heights. All three men face mandatory sentences of life in prison.
Seven others have pleaded guilty in connection with the criminal enterprise.
Pray, the group’s ringleader, and Marlow were convicted in the killing of government witness, 44-year-old Crystal Washington. She was gunned down April 10, 2009, a day before the start of a trial in which she was to testify against Pray and three others.
Prosecutors said Marlow killed Washington at Pray’s direction to prevent her from taking the witness stand. After Washington’s killing, prosecutors dropped the criminal case.
On Tuesday, Pray and Marlow were also convicted of the January 2010 murder of a 20-year-old rival drug dealer, Jheryl Hodge. Prosecutors said the group targeted Hodge because his brother had shot an associate of Pray’s.
Marlow, the group’s enforcer, had recently gotten out of prison. He spotted Hodge in the Barry Farm housing project and shot him several times in broad daylight, officials said.
Pray and Benbow, 31, were convicted in connection to the 2008 murder of 28-year-old Van Johnson Jr. in Prince George’s County. Pray and Benbow followed Johnson from a nightclub and ambushed him because they believed he had disrespected Benbow, prosecutors said.
Pray and Benbow are scheduled to be sentenced on June 22. Marlow is to be sentenced on June 21.
